gruesome killing of CRPF jawans by Naxals in Sukma Dist of Chhattisgarh

Chhattisgarh is the 10th largest state in India.  A resource-rich state, it is a source of electricity and steel for the country.  The state was formed on 1 November 2000 by partitioning 16 Chhattisgarhi-speaking southeastern districts of Madhya Pradesh.  The capital city is Raipur. Currently the state comprises 27 districts.  In Jan 2012, the CM, Dr. Raman Singh  inaugurated this green and nature gifted Tribal District that is  directly connected to two different states of Orissa & Andhra Pradesh.  It is Sukma, in news for wrong and sad reasons !

On 24^th Apr 2017, at least 25 CRPF personnel were killed and six wounded in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district, the deadliest attack by naxalites targeting security forces this year. The naxalites mounted the assault around 12.25 pm in Kalapathar area of south Bastar region, one of the worst-hit by Left-wing extremism in the country.

Inspector Raghubir Singh, the commander of the 99-member CRPF company which was attacked by Maoists was also among the 25 personnel killed in the deadly ambush. The names of the others, all belonging to the 'Delta' company of the 74th battalion of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), are: Sub-Inspector KK Das, Assistant Sub-Inspectors Sanjay Kumar, Rameswar Lal, Naresh Kumar, Head Constables Surender Kumar, Banna Ram, LP Singh, Naresh Yadav, Padmanabhanand and Ram Mehar, Constables Saurabh Kumar, Abhay Mishra, Banmali Ram, NP Sonkar, KK Pandey, Vinay Chandra Burman, P Alagupandi, Abhay Kumar, N Senthil Kumar, N Thirumurgan, Ranjit Kumar, Ashish Singh, Manoj Kumar and Anup Karmakar. The six injured were identified as ASI R Chembram, Constables Mahender Singh, Jitender Kumar, Sher Mohammed, Lachhu Oraon and Sonawane Eashwar Suresh.

Road connectivity forms a critical part of anti-Naxal operations in Maoist-affected areas. Better roads ensure the free movement of security forces. Last December, the Shri  Narendra Modiji’s  Cabinet cleared a project to build and upgrade roads connecting some of the worst Left Wing Extremism (LWE) Affected areas. At an estimated cost of Rs 11,724.53 crore, works related to the construction/upgradation of 5,411.81 km road and 126 bridges/Cross Drainage works were to be taken up in 44 such districts. Yet Naxals can only harm !!

To rub salts in to the wounds, the  Bihar government drew strong criticism  after a cheque of Rs 5 lakh it had issued to the family of a soldier who was killed in the Sukma ambush bounced, according to CNN-News18. Ranjeet Kumar was one of the 25 officers – six of whom were from Bihar – who had died in the Maoist attack in Chhattisgarh’s Sukma on April 24.

Kumar’s father Indradeo Yadav had deposited the cheque, issued in the name of the jawan’s wife Sunita Devi, at HDFC Bank’s Sheikhpura branch. The cheque was sent to the Patna branch and then to Noida to be cleared, reported India Today.  While HDFC’s Sheikhpura branch manager told CNN-News18 that the cheque had bounced because of a technical fault, other reports claimed there were problems with the district magistrate’s signature on the cheque. Sheikhpura District Magistrate Dinesh Kumar told India Today that the Noida office had one Chandrashekhar Singh registered as the district magistrate of Sheikhpura. “We have called the HDFC representatives and sorted out the problem,” Kumar told the publication.

The Nitish Kumar-led government had sanctioned compensation of Rs 5 lakh each for the families of the CRPF jawans from Bihar. After news of the cheque bouncing emerged on Wednesday, authorities scrambled to ensure that the amount was transferred to the designated account through an online transaction, Hindustan Times reported.  The Opposition took the opportunity to criticise Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. “This is not the first time such a thing has happened during his tenure,” party spokesperson Sanjay Tiger told CNN-News18. “Their ministers and leaders have been making inappropriate comments about our soldiers. Today I am hearing this news of a cheque bouncing. His family needs support, not such treatment.”

On April 24, the  troops were guarding workers constructing a road in the Burkapal-Chintagufa area of the Bastar region, which is a Maoist hotbed. The incident was the worst Maoist attack on security forces in Chhattisgarh since April 6, 2010, when 76 CRPF soldiers were killed in an encounter in Dantewada district.

Makes a sad and painful reading !

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

10^th May 2017.