Last week’s attack on the Doordarshan Centre near Jagdalpur, headquarters of Chhattisgarh’s Bastar district, by suspected Naxals continued to baffle security forces here on Tuesday, with many questions raised in the wake of the late-night raid by ultras on the broadcaster still remaining unanswered.
“We are baffled by the manner in which the DD centre was raided by Naxals, the first such incident reported anywhere in the country till date, in the early morning of May 11, leaving three cops dead and another injured. Although prima facie it appears the attack was handiwork of the Maoists, we are still probing other angles to crack the case,” a senior police officer here told this newspaper.
He said at least a couple of leads gathered by the investigating officers have puzzled the police since the modus operandi is different from that followed by Naxals. “The police suspects that the rebels had perhaps opened fire on the security personnel deployed there with the cops’ weapons. Moreover, the rebels chose to leave the sophisticated weapons of the deceased jawans before fleeing the place, which is normally not done by the ultras,” the police officer said.
Even if a small action team (SAT) of the CPI (Maoist) was assigned the task of raiding the DD centre, there was no reason why the attackers would leave the forces’ weapons on the spot, he added.
“Somehow, we have a feeling that there is more than what meets the eye,” he remarked. He, however, conceded that the attack, if carried out by the Naxals, indicated strengthening of urban network by reds.
The attack site is barely eight km from district headquarters town of Jagdalpur. “Jagdalpur is considered heart of Dandakarany belt comprising Bastar of Chhattisgarh and parts of neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and Maharashtra. Maoists have been trying to strengthen their base in Jagdalpur for the past one decade. In the event of this, Maoists would be able to extend their hold on entire Dandakaranya region, gaining control of rich mineral resources available in the region,” he added.