A day after eight persons, including three children, were gunned down by joint anti-Naxal forces in Chhattisgarh, the Union home ministry has admitted “collateral damage’’ has taken place, clearly indicating some innocent lives may have been lost in the cross-fire by security forces. Rushing into a damage control exercise, the MHA on Monday decided to write to all LWE states and Central forces asking them “to altogether abandon operations when there is even a slightest doubt that villagers are around’’.
Top government officials said the fresh advisory will re-emphasise that security forces must exercise “restraint’’ as Maoists may be using hapless villagers and children as “human shields’’ during encounters. The fresh killings have occurred in less than a year after 19 persons alleged to be Maoists were killed in Sarkeguda in Chhattisgarh on June 29, 2012 in a major operation by the CRPF which sparked off a major controversy after the villagers cried foul. This time, the MHA has also rushed to give compensation of `3 lakhs to the families of all eight deceased persons.
“We will not wait for the outcome of the inquiry. We don’t know whether there is any Maoist among those killed, but the compensation will be given to all,” a senior MHA official said.
The Chhattisgarh government, meanwhile, has ordered a judicial probe in the incident. An additional compensation of `5 lakhs is also being given jointly by the Central and state government to the families of the deceased.
The Centre had drawn up detailed standard operating procedures (SOPs) after last year’s killings in Sarkeguda asking security forces to “retreat” if villagers are found among Maoists and impart specialised training to newly-inducted troops to avoid collateral damage. Using non-lethal weapons such as rubber bullets and stun grenades and asking Central paramilitary units to undertake anti-Naxalite operations only with local police forces well versed with the area were part of the guidelines framed by the Centre. A senior MHA official conceded on Monday that is increasingly becoming difficult for the forces to follow the rulebook when Maoists are using innocent tribals and children as “cover’’ during operations.
Security officials insisted that the encounter with Maoists at Edakmeta village in Bijapur district on Friday night occurred after the joint teams of Cobra and Chhattisgarh Armed Police had specific inputs of a gathering of nearly 400 Maoists in the area. They said the encounter site was nearly 1.6 km away from the nearest village and the forces did not expect villagers to be present there.