Dantewada attack: CoI gives report on role of 4 CRPF officers

A court of inquiry (CoI), set up by the CRPF to probe "specific acts of omission and commission" by an inspecter general and three other officers in connection with the April six Dantewada naxal attack, today submitted its report to the force headquarters here.

The inquiry was constituted in the aftermath of the recommendations of EN Rammohan Committee, which went probed the Dantewada massacre, that "specific" responsibility of the four officers should be "fixed" and disciplinary proceedings, if needed, be initiated. 75 CRPF personnel and a Chhattisgarh
policeman were killed by Naxalites in the attack.

The CoI, which was headed by CRPF Additional Director General DC Dey, submitted its report to the office of the Director General here as the force chief Vikram Srivastava is away on a visit to Chhattisgarh in the wake of yesterday's naxal attack killing 27 personnel.

The exact contents of the spiral bound report are immediately not known but, according to sources, the report is understood to have focussed on the role of the four officers before and after the April six attack and what more steps could have been taken by them.

After former BSF chief EN Rammohan submitted the report to Home Minister P Chidambaram on April 26, the three serving officers, including Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Nalin Prabhat, were shunted out of Chhattisgarh. The fourth officer-- Inspector General Ramesh Chandra-- has since retired.

The two other officers are the then Commandant of the 62nd battalion A K Bisht and Inspector Sanjeev Bangre.

While Prabhat was sent to Chandigarh as DIG, a charge he was already holding, Bisht was moved to a training centre at Aradi in Orissa and Bangre was shifted to Anantnag in Kashmir.

The CoI, apart from talking statements of the officers, also sought records and other documents which were a crucial part of the probe by Rammohan.

The inquiry also went into the order and flow of communication between the special sector headquarters of the CRPF located at Raipur and these officers.

The special sector of the CRPF is headed by a special director general rank officer who is responsible for anti-Naxal operations undertaken by various Central para-military forces like CRPF, ITBP and BSF and their coordination with different state police forces.

The transfer of Prabhat came as a surprise to the CRPF ranks as he was considered among the best officers in the para-military force. He is a recipient of President's Police Medal, Police Medal for Meritorious Service and Police Medal for Gallantry.

He was considered as best operational officer during his tenure as DIG in militancy-hit Jammu and Kashmir.