15 security men, 1 civilian killed in major Naxal ambush
In a brazen daytime attack, Naxals on Tuesday ambushed a security
team killing 15 personnel including 11 of the CRPF and also a civilian
in a chilling reminder of the 2010 massacre of 76 securitymen in the
same area in the worst-hit Sukma district of Chhattisgarh. The attack at
10.15 a.m. at Jeerum Nullah, 400 km from Raipur, came when a contingent
of 44 joint security forces personnel was trapped and struck by heavy
fire and landmine blasts while it was out for an operational task in the
jungles of Tongapal, close to the Dantewada and Jeerum Ghati axis,
notorious for Naxal violence. The location of the major ambush by a
large group of Naxals is close to the Jeeram Ghati area in Sukma
district in the Bastar region where the top Congress leadership of the
State was wiped out by Maoists in May 2013 when they killed 25 people.
“11 CRPF personnel and four state policemen were killed. Inspector
Subhash of CRPF was leading the squad and he has also been killed,” DIG
(SIB) of Chattisgarh police Dipanshu Kabra told reporters. A civilian
was also killed in the attack, he said, adding three people have been
injured. An assistant commandant rank officer of CRPF is also believed
to among the victims, sources said. Chhattisgarh’s Additional
Director-General of Police (Intelligence) Mukesh Gupta said the joint
team was attacked by a large group of Naxals numbering close to 100. A
large manhunt has been launched to nab the attackers who escaped in the
thick jungles.
It was not immediately known if the Naxals had suffered any
casualties. Police sources said the deaths of the securitymen were
caused due to bullet injuries. Chattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh
has cancelled his scheduled programme and convened an emergency meeting
of security officials in Raipur. “The area is heavily mined and hence
reinforcements are treading cautiously,” CRPF Inspector-General
(Operations) in Delhi Zulfiquar Hasan told PTI. The incident took place
in the same area where Naxals had killed 76 police personnel in April
2010, the biggest blow to security forces till this time in anti-Naxal
operations. In New Delhi, Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said details
are still awaited.
The squad that included 30 CRPF and 14 State police personnel was
conducting a road opening task when Naxals triggered landmine blasts and
firing. Sources said two IAF helicopters have been sent in from
Jagdalpur and Raipur to the ambush area with reinforcements drawn from
the CoBRA battalion and CRPF. According to initial information, the
joint security squad was deployed near the Takbada village for a route
sanitising duty for smooth movement of a convoy of the security forces.
The jawans of CRPF belong to its 80th battalion which is deployed for
anti-Naxal operations in the State. The State police is suspecting that a
group of Naxals who may have crossed into Chattisgarh from Odisha could
be behind the deadly attack. According to police officials, Naxals have
looted at least 15 automatic weapons belonging to the jawans.
Police also suspect that ultras might have booby-trapped body of a
slain policeman, which is lying near the Nullah. A team of explosive
experts has been dispatched to the spot to defuse the bomb. Officials
further said that security personnel were on alert after local unit
gathered intelligence on the presence of naxals from the state and
neighbouring Odisha in the area. State Governor Shekhar Dutt has
condemned the incident, terming it “a cruel and ghastly act”.
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/20-security-personnel-feared-killed-in-chhattisgarh-naxal-attack/article5773315.ece
INDIA: ADVANTAGE SQUANDERED IN BIHAR – ANALYSIS
In the night of February 22, 2014, around 150 heavily armed Communist
Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) cadres attacked the Amas Police
Station in the Gaya District of Bihar, bringing traffic to a grinding
halt on both the New Delhi and Kolkata side of the Grand Trunk Road. The
exchange of fire between the Maoists and the Police continued for
nearly two hours before the Maoists retreated. Though the Maoists failed
to inflict any casualty on the Police side, a civilian taxi driver was
killed in the crossfire.
Reports suggested that the two sides exchanged about 600 rounds of
fire. On December 31, 2014, a group of nearly 50 Maoist cadres had
attacked a highway construction site in Gaya District and torched
construction machinery. On July 17, 2013, at least three Special
Auxiliary Police (SAP) troopers and two guards of a private road
construction company were killed and seven others were injured, when
over 125 Maoist cadres attacked the base camp of the company at Goh in
Aurangabad District.
On June 13, 2013, a group of around 200 Maoist cadres had attacked
the Dhanbad-Patna Intercity Express at the Bhalui halt near Jamui
District, killing three persons and injuring six passengers. Swarming
attacks have become a rarity in most other Maoist-afflicted States, but
their persistence in Bihar demonstrates both the capacity of the rebels
in the State, and their efforts to stage a comeback there. Nine of 13
such incidents recorded in 2013 occurred in Bihar alone, with Jharkhand
and Chhattisgarh accounting for two each. This comes at a time when the
State had the opportunity to go after a substantially weakened Maoist
network.
After securing some tentative but significant gains against the
Maoists in 2011 and 2012, Bihar appears to have squandered the
opportunity, with its anti-Maoist campaign losing focus. There simply
cannot be any acceptable explanation for a State losing 27 Security
Force personnel [Union Ministry of Home Affairs (UMHA) data] to Maoist
attacks in 2013 without inflicting a single casualty on the Maoists.
According UMHA data, a total of 69 persons – 42 civilians and 27 SF
personnel – were killed in Bihar in Naxalite (Left Wing Extremism)
violence in 2013, as against 49 persons – 34 civilians, 10 SF personnel
and five extremists – were killed in 2012.
Significantly, this yields a 270 per cent Year-on-Year (YoY)
escalation in SF fatalities, even as the Maoists managed to reduce their
own losses to zero. Civilian killings by Maoists also increased
significantly. Partial data compiled by the South Asia Terrorism Portal
(SATP) confirms these trends. However, SATP records two Maoist
fatalities in 2013, of cadres killed by the Tritiya Prastuti Committee
(TPC), a breakaway faction of the CPI-Maoist, which has turned into its
bitter rival.
In the first two months of 2014, the Maoists have already killed at
least five civilians while two Maoists have been killed. Prima facie,
the Maoist problem in Bihar appears to be worsening again. Apart from
the adverse fatalities trends, the arrest and surrender data is also
discouraging. 311 Maoists were arrested in 2013, as against 426 in 2012,
while just three Maoists surrendered in 2013, as against 42 in 2012.
http://www.eurasiareview.com/11032014-india-advantage-squandered-bihar-analysis/
Post-Sukma ambush, alert in 3 Maoist-hit districts of UP
Lucknow: An alert has been sounded in the three Maoist-hit districts
of Uttar Pradesh following the Naxal attack in Sukma district of
Chattisgarh on Tuesday. Talks have been held with the regional
coordinator of the central paramilitary forces SN Sawat and alert has
been sounded in view of today’s attack in Chattishgarh , a home
department spokesman said. Alert was sounded in Sonebhadra, Chandauli
and Mirzapur the three-Naxal hit districts in UP, the spokesman added.
http://zeenews.india.com/news/chhattisgarh/post-sukma-ambush-alert-in-3-maoist-hit-districts-of-up_917282.html
Chhattisgarh Maoist attack leaves security establishment in a tizzy
Raipur, March 11, (ANI): Talking to media persons following the
daring Maoist attack on security personnel in the Tongpa-Jheerum area of
Chhattisgarh’s Jagadalpur District on Monday, R.K. Vij, Additional
Director General (ADG), (Naxal Operations), said that full picture of
the extent of the attack on security personnel is yet to be ascertained.
“Senior security personnel have already reached the spot where the
Naxal attack occured. Only then, will we be able to tell you the exact
number of casualties. Initial information, which is trickling in from
our sources, suggests that three security personnel were dead, and their
bodies have been recovered. Another three, who were injured, have been
rushed to Tongpal,” Vij said.
“The Maoist attack on a team of CRPF and State Reseve Police force
took place when they were on regular duty and were inspecting the roads.
The epicenter of the attack was barely five kilometres away from the
Tongpa-Jheerum area,” Vij added. E.N. Ram Mohan Rao, former Director
General of the Border Security Force (BSF), who is also an expert on
Naxal operations, suggested that the government must delve deeper as to
why Left-Wing Extremists (LWE) were fighting against the state, and
called for urgent remedy.
“Tell me, why does a common person take up guns. It is because when
he has been pushed too hard against the wall by the state machinery,
that he starts acting against it. Hence, we must first understand the
root cause behind which the Maoists are fighting against the state.” Rao
said. On the ground, he squarely blamed the CRPF officers for lack of
understanding and poor combat techniques for the tragedy.
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