The killing of 27 CRPF jawans by Maoists at Dhorai, in Chhattisgarh’s Narayanpur district, on Tuesday, has once again brought into focus the “lack of expertise and professionalism” of the Central paramilitary force in battling a well-knit and committed unit like the CPI(Maoist), a section of anti-Naxal experts feel.
CRPF troopers engaged in road-opening duty along Dhorai-Orcha had invited trouble by committing the same mistakes that had cost the lives of 75 of their colleagues at Chintalnar, in Dantewada district, in a Maoist ambush on April 6.
“You can say the Dhorai massacres of 27 CRPF men is virtually a repetition of the Chintalnar tragedy. In both cases, the jawans fell victim to Maoists due to their own follies,” a senior police officer with long experience in Naxal management in the state told this newspaper on condition of anonymity.
He cited how two companies of the CRPF’s 39 Batt-alion, assigned to open the Dhorai road, had violated standard operating procedures for anti-Maoist operations, making themselves easy targets for the Maoists who ambushed them.
“A basic rule prescribed for security personnel is that they should take a different route while returning from anti-Maoist operations. The CRPF jawans involved in road-opening duty at Dhorai had ignored this rule and returned via the same path, making themselves vulnerable to the Maoist attack,” the officer said. Also, instead of spreading out while marching, the tail end of the patrol had reportedly bunched up. Another expert said the lack of expertise in jungle warfare had made them “sitting ducks” for the Maoists.
The CRPF battalions eng-aged in anti-Maoist ops in Chhattisgarh have experience in anti-insurgency in Kashmir but little of jungle warfare. Hence, the battalions that have fought insurgency in the Northeast should be deployed in Chhattisgarh for better results, the expert said.