Chhattisgarh Naxal attack: A search operation went wrong

Union Home Minister Amit Shah is visiting Chattisgarh on Sunday and will meet jawans hurt in the Maoist attack in Bastar region wherein 22 were martyred.

In the biggest massacre in more than a year, police have so far recovered bullet-riddled bodies of 22 security personnel in the jungles.

Here is a rundown on what led to the incident and the aftermath:

According to police officials, in a major joint offensive, separate joint teams of security forces, comprising over 2,000 personnel, launched an anti-Naxal operation from Bijapur and Sukma districts in the South Bastar forests, considered as a Maoist stronghold, on April 2 night.

Also read: Chhattisgarh: Shah to meet injured jawans, go to Naxal attack site

The ambush was led by some 400 Maoists who surrounded the jawans from three sides in an area devoid of vegetation and rained on them machine gunfire as well as IEDs for several hours, officials said on April 3. Some 10-12 Naxals are also believed to have died in the fierce gunbattle that ensued.

The security forces had launched a search and destroy operation along the border of Bijapur-Sukma district after they got inputs of Maoists presence in the area.

After receiving intelligence inputs that the Naxals were conducting a counter-offensive exercise in the area, a contingent of about 790 personnel set out towards the Jagargunda-Jongaguda-Tarrem axis at dawn, the officials said.

At least 400 Naxals suspected to be led by the most wanted Maoist commander and leader of the so-called 'People's Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) battalion no 1 — Hidma — and his associate Sujatha ambushed the forces in an area that is a strong-hold of the Maoists due to the difficult terrain, large tracts of forests and a smaller number of security forces camps, an officer said.

'Planned Naxal ambush?'

On Monday, several media reports citing security officials reported that the forces on Saturday were acting on "faulty intel."

However, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel and CRPF Director General Kuldeep Singh denied any such failure. "There is no point in saying there was some kind of intelligence or operational failure. Had it been some intelligence failure, forces would have not gone for the operation. And if there was some operational failure, so many Maoists would have not been killed," Singh was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

Rubbishing claims of "a meticulously planned Naxal ambush", Inspector General of Police (Bastar range) Sundarraj P said, "Security forces fought bravely and inflicted a heavy blow to the ultras during the face-off."

However, another senior police official was quoted as saying by news agency PTI that the Naxals were strategically positioned on a hillock in front of Tekalguda village and around it, inviting scepticism on whether the attack was a planned Naxal ambush or a joint offensive.

The operation was launched from five places — Tarrem, Usoor and Pamed (in Bijapur), and Minpa and Narsapuram (in Sukma), the official said. Visuals from the spot showed bodies of the slain jawans lying in the field and on the village streets.

Chhattisgarh's Deputy Inspector General (anti-Naxal operation) O P Pal claimed that the Maoists suffered a huge loss in the gunfight. Only the body of a woman Naxal could be recovered from the spot amid heavy exchange of fire.

22 Jawans martyred

A total of 22 security personnel were killed and 31 others injured in the gunfight with Naxals.

Also read: 17 more bodies of security personnel recovered after Chhattisgarh encounter, Kannadiga among injured

Out of the total fatalities, the CRPF lost eight men, including seven commandos of the CoBRA (CRPF's elite unit) and one jawan of the Bastariya battalion, eight of the other deceased were from the District Reserve Guard (DRG) and six from the Special Task Force (STF).

One jawan is still missing, officials said.

A history of violence

As many as 14 of the 27 districts in Chhattisgarh are affected by Left Wing Extremism violence. The April 2 attack comes after the March 23 incident when five DRG personnel were killed as the Maoists blew up a bus carrying the security personnel with an IED in the Narayanpur district of the state.

On March 21 last year, 17 security personnel were killed in a Naxal ambush in the Minpa area of Sukma district. On April 9, 2019, BJP MLA Bhima Mandavi and four security personnel were killed after Naxals blew up their vehicle with an IED in Dantewada district.

On April 24, 2017, 25 CRPF personnel were killed in a Naxal ambush in Burkapal area of Sukma district.

In March 2017, 12 CRPF jawans were killed in a Maoist attack in Sukma district.

In November 2016, two CRPF jawans were injured in a pressure bomb blast triggered by Naxals in the dense forest of Sukma district.

(With PTI inputs)