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25 CRPF men killed as Maoists strike in Chhattisgarh, again

The attack comes as a big embarrassment to the Centre that recently had described the present Naxal (Maoist) situation as the "best" in over a decade-and-a-half earlier

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A wounded CRPF jawan being treated at a hospital in Raipur
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At least 25 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) men lost their lives in a fierce encounter with Maoists in Burkapal area of Sukma district of Chhattisgarh on Monday. The CRPF said the casualty figures could go up as about six jawans are in critical condition.

The attack comes as a big embarrassment to the Centre that recently had described the present Naxal (Maoist) situation as the "best" in over a decade-and-a-half earlier.

"If you compare with previous years, the situation is under control. We have been successful in controlling the problem and will continue with that. The situation today is best in the past 15-16 years...one can see the statistics," union home minister Rajnath Singh had said in Lucknow on April 2.

The fateful attack took place around 12:30 pm when about 300 Maoists armed with automatic weapons swooped on jawans of 74th Battalion of CRPF while they were busy assisting a road construction party at Kalapathar in Burkapal near Maoist-affected Chintagufa in Sukma district.

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh described the attack as an act of desperation by the Maoists as "they know that Bheji-Gorkha-Jiribam axis road will end their reign in Sukma, their last bastion in Chhatttisgarh."

 

CRPF officials said, before opening fire, the Maoists exploded improvised explosive devices (IEDs) to create shock impact. There were 99 jawans in the CRPF company providing security cover as road opening party (ROP) to the road construction for Bheji-Gorkha-Jiribam Axis area near Chintagufa. The encounter went on for several hours. There was no information on the casualties suffered by the Maoists. The CRPF was silent on it.

This is the second big attack in the same area during the last one month. In the earlier attack on March 17, 12 CRPF had lost their lives. The same area near Chintagufa had also witnessed the worst-ever attack in 2010 when the CRPF lost 75 of its jawans.

Prima facie, there seems be a colossal intelligence failure, said a senior CRPF official, adding that movement of 300 well-armed Maoists cannot be missed unless there is some big snag in the intelligence gathering and flow.

Jawans, who managed to sustain the attack but were injured, later said that the Maoists apparently had sent their spies as villagers to confirm CRPF's location. The Maoists attackers included men, women and children.

The CRPF sources said glitches in connectivity also proved fatal as they could not send reinforcements in time to tackle the bigger Maoist force. It also led to delay in pressing Indian Air Force into rescue operation. The IAF received message around 3 pm and immediately pressed two Mi-17 V5s helicopters from Jagdalpur detachment to lift the casualties and take them to Raipur. One MI-17 flew in escort role to answer possible Maoist attacks on the rescue helicopter. The last sortie took off at 7:10 pm from Burkapal carrying 12 mortal remains of the jawans to Raipur.

Reeling under the attack that grew bigger by the evening, Chief Minister Raman Singh called an emergency meeting with top state police and CRPF officials to assess the situation. Acting CRPF DG, Sudeep Lakhtakia and other senior officials rushed to Raipur to take stock of the situation and pay homage to the martyred jawans.

The reverberations of the fierce attack were also felt in New Delhi where Rajnath Singh immediately reviewed the situation and briefed Prime Minister Narendra Modi about it. Rajnath has deputed his junior minister Hansraj Ahir to take stock of the situation with Raman Singh in Raipur.

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