Troopers or sitting ducks? 75 killed in Maoist ambush

Ambushing policemen who were out on an operation against them in thick forests, Naxalites carried out their deadliest attack in the early hours today killing 76 CRPF personnel who appeared to have walked into their "trap".

The police personnel were literally caught sleeping in the Mukrana forests of Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh, one of the strongholds of the Naxals, when the attack took place between 6am and 7am on a batch of 82, including 80 CRPF personnel. Two were from the local police.

The personnel were returning to the base camp as part of joint operation when it came under fire from hill features just about 4km away.

Virtually an entire company of the CRPF was wiped out when 75 of its personnel including Deputy Commandant Satyawan Singh Yadav and Assistant Commandant BL Meena along with the head constable of the Chattisgarh police were killed.

The attack shook the Centre and prime minister Manmohan Singh had a meeting with Union home minister P Chidambaram and
assessed the situation. Both of them expressed shock over the attack and grief over the loss of lives.

The National Security Council which had a pre-scheduled meeting, discussed the dastardly attack. The prime minister,
Chidambaram, some of his cabinet colleagues and the three service chiefs attended the meeting.

While the prime minister called it a "horrific" incident, Chidambaram said it showed the brutality and savagery of the Maoists.

Rattled by the "very high" casualty, Chidambaram said something must have gone "drastically wrong" in the joint operation as the personnel seemed to have walked into a trap.

Home secretary Gopal K Pillai, however, ruled out use of air power in the anti-naxal operations. He said the government's resolve strengthened and it will continue to tackle the Maoists menace as already planned.  Narrating the sequence of events, official sources said the Central Intelligence Bureau had shared an information about presence of Naxalites in the jungles of Chintalnar - Tarmetla following which the CRPF personnel along with the two state police constables left on their pursuit.

The CRPF team, which failed to achieve any breakthrough during the night, were encircled by the Naxals in the wee hours. They fired at the security personnel who ran towards the jungles, which had already been mined with pressure bombs, which claimed most of the lives.

The sources said that after the blasts, Naxals went round to look for any survivors and shot them too mercilessly before looting their weapons and two mortar guns.

The bodies have been recovered from the site of the attack, suspected to have been carried out by about 1,000 Naxals, Chhattisgarh inspector general RK Vij said.

The Naxals had planted IEDs which blew up an anti-mine vehicle killing the lone occupant, the driver. This was followed by heavy exchange of fire between the remaining CRPF personnel and the Maoists.

Seven of the injured CRPF men have been evacuated for treatment from the forest area, he said.

In New Delhi, the home secretary said those who have gone from the base camp to rescue the attacked team, also came under fire.

"One of the helicopters which has been dispatched to bring in the injured personnel also came under fire from the Maoists," he said.

Pillai said an AN-32 aircraft has been sent to bring the bodies back to Delhi.

Calling the incident "regrettable", he expressed sympathies for the personnel who lost their lives in the ambush.

"The home ministry, in one of its first advertisement, had indicated that Maoists are nothing but murderers. The incident today reinforces this as also the other hundreds of people, innocent civilians and tribals that they have killed in past few months and years," Pillai said.