CRPF men attacked while eating

New Delhi, April 25

The 25 CRPF jawans who were killed in a deadly Naxal ambush in Chhattisgarh’s Sukma, were having lunch when a hail of bullets and grenades hit them fatally.

A party of about 36 troops, out of the total 99, came under the first assault after they had ventured out from Burkapal yesterday to sanitise and provide protection to a 5.5-km long road construction work connecting Chitagufa in the said district, officials said.

The Maoists squad “very discreetly with the aid of locals” kept tracking the movement of the troops when one party of 36, out of the total three, sat down for lunch, the strong squad of Naxals, possessing sophisticated weapons, took them by surprise and rained heavy gunfire, they said.

A huge assortment of 22 smart arms, including 13 AK series assault rifles and 5 INSAS rifles, 3,420 live rounds of various rifles, 75 magazines of AK rifles, 31 of INSAS, 67 live UBGL rounds, 22 bulletproof jackets, two binoculars, five wireless sets and a deep search metal detector were also looted by Naxals, they said.

While a top CRPF officer said the killed troops had “finished their lunch” and may be were not in an absolute alert mode for the next few minutes, other officials said “some of them were having their lunch” when the attack was launched around 12:30 pm.

While the slain 25 men and about six others who were injured tried to gather their weapons or take aim at the marauding Naxals, the others on the guard duty mounted an effective retaliation and saved about 40 civilians and construction workers who were present in the vicinity of the area during the deadly assault that lasted over an hour.

What has surprised multiple security officials is the fact that the Maoists are understood to have used few under-barrel grenade launchers, a smart and sophisticated weapon used by security forces, to inflict fatal casualties on the troops by lobbing grenades in quick succession. — PTI

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Odisha sounds alert, seals border with C’garh

Bhubaneswar: Apprehending influx of Maoists from Chhattisgarh, the Odisha Police on Tuesday sealed the border with the neighbouring state and sounded a high alert in Malkangiri district. Though the ambush took place about 45 km from Malkangiri and close to Maharashtra border, the Odisha Police deployed its elite anti-Maoist Special Operation Group, District Voluntary Force and jawans of the CRPF and the BSF to ensure there was no influx of ultras in Odisha, state DGP KB Singh said, adding there was every possibility of Maoist ultras preferring to take shelter in Odisha as Maharashtra has already sealed its border with Chhattisgarh. — PTI

Don’t politicise attack, says govt 

Jammu: Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office Jitendra Singh on Tuesday urged the Opposition not to politicise the Sukma Naxal attack. Assuring of strict action by the government, he said, “It is not right to comment on this issue now, especially without knowing any facts. It is not right to comment on judiciary and its decision, they know best and some action will be taken. Home Minister Rajnath Singh has taken ‘suo moto’ cognizance on this issue. I request the opposition not to add politics in this serious and grave matter.” — ANI

Mamata announces Rs 5-lakh relief

Cooch Behar (West Bengal): West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday visited the houses of two CRPF troopers killed by Maoists in Chhattisgarh and announced Rs 5 lakh and government jobs to their next of kin. “Three jawans from Bengal were martyred in Sukma. Bengal’s jawans have always worked for the service of the nation,” Banerjee tweeted. The CM visited the houses of two troopers—Krishna Kumar Das and Binay Chandra Barman—who hailed from Cooch Behar. — IANS

Grieved families demand justice

Patna/Amritsar/Sikar/Jashpur: “Death of my husband should be avenged,” said a teary-eyed wife of CRPF jawan Banmali who lost his life in Monday’s attack in Sukma. With a year and half daughter in her lap, Banmali’s widow Jiteshwari has nothing to say, but all she wants is revenge. “Death of my husband should be avenged. Who will do it I don’t know, but justice should be done,” she said. A similar gloomy scene was witnessed in Sikar village of Rajasthan after the killing of local hero and CRPF jawan Banna Ram. Slain Raghbir Singh’s aggravated family and friends question the intelligence failure and government inaction. — ANI

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Why are rights activists silent?

"While the nation is shocked, why human rights activists have maintained baffling silence? They react strongly if an extremist or a terrorist is killed by the police but take shelter in silence when jawans and innocent people are killed by those who operate underground.  — Venkaiah Naidu, Union Minister

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Act of cowardice

"Since their strength is getting reduced, they are doing such things. This is a strategy of cowards. This is a cowardly attack...as PM said, this sacrifice will not go waste.  — Prakash Javadekar, HRD Minister

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BJP leaders ‘hand in glove’

"I have said this before and am repeating, that Raman Singh and all those BJP leaders who have won from Naxalism-hit areas have struck a deal with Naxals and there is some exchange between them.  — Digvijaya Singh, Cong 

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Don’t call it ‘red terror’

"Attempts should not be made to term Sukma killings as red terror… There are several Left parties in Chhattisgarh, including the CPI, that are working in defence of tribal people. They do not agree with Maoists—politically and ideologically—and also with their form of struggle.  — Communist Party of India 

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Proper investigation a must

"I feel that there should be a standard operating procedure under which investigations are done on such issues. Proper investigation should be made whether we had the intelligence inputs or not and whether he had a proper back-up.   — Yashwant Sinha, BJP veteran

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