'Stay On The Course'

Statement made by the home minister in the Rajya Sabha on the issue of recent incident in Chhattisgarh in which 74 CRPF personnel lost their lives

At the request of the Government of Chhattisgarh, 141 companies of Central Para-military Forces (CPMFs) have been deployed in that State for anti-naxal operations over a period of time. The 62nd Battalion of the CRPF was deployed in March – April, 2009, to replace the 55th Battalion. Earlier, the 62nd Battalion had been deployed in Bihar and had gained experience in anti-naxal operations.

A joint decision was taken by IG (Bastar) Shri Longkumar, DIG (Dantewada) Shri SRP Kalluri and DIG (CRPF) Shri Nalin Parbhat to undertake an Area Domination exercise (AD Ops), including night halts, over three days. The actual deployment was left to be decided by SP (Dantewada) Shri Amresh Mishra and the Commandant of the battalion. An 81-strong force, drawn from platoons belonging to the ‘A’,’C’ and ‘G’ companies of the 62nd Bn, was instructed to undertake the exercise between April 4 and April 6, 2010. It is reported that the force undertook the exercise. A Deputy Commandant and an Assistant Commandant accompanied the force. A Head Constable of the Civil Police also accompanied the force.

At about 0550 hours on April 6, 2010, the force came under heavy fire from the Naxalites. Upon receiving a wireless message of the attack at about 0600 hours, the Commandant of the 62nd Battalion along with 30 men rushed to the place of the incident. They also came under fire 3 kms short of the actual place of the incident. Simultaneously, another party led by Inspector Wagdi of the 62nd Battalion moved from Chintalnar with reinforcements towards the place of the incident but that party also came under fire, just outside Chintalnar.

Preliminary enquiries have revealed that the deaths were caused largely due to bullet injuries, crude bombs and grenades. 74 men of the CRPF, one Head Constable of the civil police and one driver of the reinforcement party lost their lives. 75 weapons were also lost to the naxalites. Only the post mortem reports and a thorough inquiry, including de-briefing of the injured jawans, would fully establish the sequence of events and the facts.

The three companies concerned had undergone pre-induction training before they were inducted in that area.

Anti-naxal operations are being conducted in accordance with the policy deliberated and agreed upon at several meetings with Chief Ministers of the affected States. The two pillars of the policy are calibrated police action and development. Central para military forces have been provided to the affected States, including Chhattisgarh, to help the State Governments carry out counter-insurgency operations, regain control of areas dominated by the Naxalites, restore the civil administration, and re-start development work. The State Governments, therefore, have the primary responsibility. The Central Government stands ready and willing to assist the State Governments and to coordinate inter-State operations. I may point out that, because the security forces are deployed in areas populated by scheduled tribes, a number of restrictions have been placed on the operations of central para military forces.

Let us not forget that goal of the Naxalites is to overthrow the established authority of the Government through armed liberation struggle. The State has a legitimate right to deploy its security forces to resist, apprehend and, if necessary, neutralize militants who are determined to strike at the very roots of our nation.

Our call to the CPI (Maoist) for talks was made in the hope that there will be a sincere response from them. The only condition is that the CPI (Maoist) must abjure violence.

I visited Chhattisgarh on April 7, 2010. I paid homage to the brave jawans and officers who had laid down their lives. Upon my return, we have instituted an inquiry into this grave incident. Shri E.N. Ram Mohan, IPS (Retd.) has been appointed as the one-man Inquiry Committee. He has been requested to submit his report in two weeks. I would submit to the House that we should await the report of the Inquiry Committee before reaching any final conclusions.

On an earlier occasion, I had said that to counter the menace of naxalism we need ‘a strong head, a stronger heart and enormous staying power’. I believe that the Government has all three qualities. Even as we grieve the loss of lives, I appeal to the House – and through this House to the people of India – that we should remain calm, hold our nerve and stay on the course that we had carefully chosen since October 2009.