25 CRPF personnel killed in Maoist encounter in Chhattisgarh: What you should know
As many as 25 CRPF personnel were killed and six injured in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district on April 24. This was one of the most deadliest ambushes by Maoists since April 6, 2010, when 75 CRPF personnel and a Chhattisgarh police official were killed in a Naxal attack in Dantewada district.
The latest attack has once again raised doubts over the "effectiveness" of the operations against the Naxals.
The Monday massacre that started around 1pm is said to be well-planned.
Here's a blow-by-blow account of how it unfolded.
1) The Naxals laid an ambush on a patrolling party of the 74 Battallion of the CRPF near Burkapal village that was supporting road construction work in the area when they were attacked.
2) A team of 90 CRPF jawans were sanitising a road which is being built in the area when around a large group of around 300 naxals, divided into multiple groups, attacked them.
3) According to an NDTV report, the Maoists had first sent locals to find out the position of the CRPF, one of the survivors told the media.
"Then we were set upon by 300 of them... villagers, women and the militia-types in black uniforms. They carried automatic weapons, AK 47, Insas rifles," he was quoted as saying by the news channel.
4) the gunbattle lasted for an hour. The Naxals looted all arms and ammunition of the CRPF jawans.
5)The injured were evacuated by helicopter and CoBRA teams of CRPF were sent as reinforcements and were conducting search operations.
Despite efforts from the government, there has been no let-up in Maoist violence in the country. This the second such attack this year alone. On March 11, as many as 12 CRPF personnel of the 219 battalion were killed in the same district. Maoists rebels triggered a powerful IED blast and then opened indiscriminate firing at the injured security personnel.
In May 17, 2016, Naxals attacked a CRPF camp in Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh, killing one jawan. In the same year, seven paramilitary soldiers were killed in a landmine blast in central Chhattisgarh on March 31.
Three more CRPF men were killed and over a dozen injured after a gunfight between Naxals and the security forces in Chhattisgarh’s Sukma district on March 4 last year. The incident was preceded by a February 17 attack when two jawans were shot by Naxals in Chhattisgarh’s Maoist-hit Rajnandgaon district.
Here is a timeline of all the major Naxal attacks in the country in the past one decade:
December 1, 2014: Maoist rebels ambushed a paramilitary patrol in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district, killing 14 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) soldiers and injuring 12 others. Six Naxals were also reportedly killed in the attack. The Maoists allegedly used villagers as human shields and fired at the soldiers, who could not retaliate.
March 11, 2014: As many as 15 security men and a civilian were killed when Maoists sprang a deadly ambush on a patrol in a thickly forested area of Chhattisgarh, a short distance from the spot where 27 people were gunned down the year before that. An estimated 300 guerrillas ambushed with indiscriminate fire and bomb attack a patrol of 50-55 men from the CRPF and police on a remote stretch of a forested road in Gheeram Ghati. The Maoists then walked away with AK-47 assault rifles of the slain security personnel.
October 18, 2012: Six CRPF men were killed and eight injured, including a deputy commandant, in landmine blasts and gunbattle in Bihar's Gaya district.
June 29, 2010: At least 26 CRPF personnel killed in a Naxal ambush in Narayanpur district of Chhattisgarh.
April 6, 2010: As many as 75 CRPF personnel and a Chhattisgarh police official killed in a Naxal attack in Dantewada district.
Even before Monday's attack, experts had been expressing concern over the absence of a regular director general (DG) for the CRPF.
The last full-time chief of the force K Durga Prasad had retired on February 28, and the Union home ministry had then issued orders appointing additional DG Sudeep Lakhtakia to hold the charge of the top CRPF post in an "additional" capacity.
According to a PTI report, CRPF officials said while day-to-day operations and work is being conducted, the absence of a regular chief hits when big and important policy decisions are to be taken.
Also read: Why CRPF is losing its jawans again and again