Sitting ducks!

Maoists butcher paramilitary personnel, raise questions on preparedness of security forces

The deadliest Naxal attack ever has left behind a slew of unanswered questions. It's true that the CRPF jawans were completely overwhelmed by the surprise onslaught and the numbers involved, but what actually killed the 73 security personnel was nothing but sheer inadequacy of their training and their deployment in the most dangerous zone of the country, the Red Corridor.

While Home Minister P Chidambaram expressed shock and grief over the tragedy, he did not mince words in saying that something went drastically wrong in the operation, which led to the mass killing.

Officials in the CRPF and the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) expressed shock, but most were of the opinion that something of this sort was waiting to happen. "Everybody in the CRPF knew that something like this would happen one day. What else can be expected when the men who are sent for guerrilla warfare are never trained for it," said a senior CRPF officer on condition of anonymity.

Sources also informed that the battalion, which was targeted on Tuesday, never underwent the mandatory area familiarisation and pre-induction training. "The way things have happened it seems the unit did not follow the basic standard Operating Procedure (SOP) which led it into a Naxal trap," said a CRPF officer who has served in Chhattisgarh.

While the probe report is awaited, one of the most glaring mistakes was the route that was chosen by the men to return to base after area-familiarisation. "The men took the same route through which they had launched the mission. That is completely against the SOP which says that the troops must keep changing their tracks to keep the surprise factor alive," said the officer.

Another grave error seemingly was riding in the anti-mine vehicle while the SOP clearly prescribes marching on foot to minimise casualty and speedy response by the troops during an ambush.
Another factor, which is puzzling the CRPF, is the blown up anti-mine vehicle that was considered safe to a great extent against any kind of pressure bomb. "All mine-protected vehicles have a safety range and so far it seems the Naxals were well aware of this vehicle's range as the bomb was planted in a deeper pit to maximise pressure," said the officer.

Pressure bombs, as the name suggests, are planted under the ground surface; the deeper they go the greater is the pressure created. All mine-protected vehicles have a safety range but if a bomb is planted deeper beyond that range, it can damage the vehicle.

In fact, Tuesday's attack on the 62nd battalion of the CRPF also points towards the dilution in training of the troops. "In its spree to raise so many new units the training of the troops has been severely compromised with. While there is a shortage of men and equipments, the men who are sent to fight Naxals have very poor knowledge of guerrilla warfare," said the Former Director General (DG) of Border Security Force (BSF) and a renowned expert on counter insurgency operations, Prakash Singh.

Surprisingly, CRPF has already raised CoBRA units-- rechristened as Special Action Force (SAF)-- for anti-Naxal warfare, but the units are used only for inter-state operations. "So far only five SAF units have been raised and these are deployed in Koraput- Jagdalpur range. At least three more units are under training," shared an MHA officer.

"First of all I disagree with this entire concept of SAF and non-SAF units. This distinction has been made only to hide the dilution in the training of the CRPF units. While CRPF has raised so called CoBRA units for anti-Naxal operations why it is inducting regular units in the operations?" asked Prakash Singh while demanding a detailed inquiry into the lapses.

Amidst all the chaos there is a unanimous verdict, which holds the ill sight of the government and the CRPF responsible for the death of several brave men. "Every one is playing with the lives of the soldiers. We are asked to operate in the most dangerous zones but we are not provided the necessary equipments and training," said a CRPF officer.