Raipur, April 26 (PTI/IANS): The Congress on Wednesday demanded dismissal of Chhattisgarh government and imposition of President’s rule in the state in the wake of the Naxal attack in Sukma district on Monday in which 25 CRPF personnel were killed. Dubbing the attack a “heinous act”, the Chhattisgarh Pradesh Congress Committee (CPCC) president Bhupesh Baghel has alleged that the Raman Singh government was responsible for the tragedy.
“Raman Singh has been the head of the unified command (of naxal-hit states) for the past 13 years, but even after that there is no coordination between Central armed forces and the state police,” Baghel said in a statement issued here. As many as 25 CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force) troopers were killed and seven others injured when naxals ambushed a patrol party of the 74th battalion of the paramilitary force near their camp at Burkapal village under Chintagufa police station limits on Monday afternoon.
“An injured CRPF jawan confirmed before media that they were not getting support of local police and as a result of which they had to sacrifice their lives. You (Raman Singh) have failed to check naxal activities and you are responsible for this incident (Sukma ambush) too,” he said. “The BJP government in the state should be dismissed and president’s rule should be imposed,” Baghel demanded.
He said the state government should clarify about the exact number of the state police personnel being posted in sensitive areas of Bastar, as the CRPF alone cannot establish law and order in that region. “Why reinforcement did not reach immediately at the spot of the encounter even as the exchange of fire between the security forces and the ultras lasted for about three hours in Burkapal in Sukma district?
Rajnath chairs top-level meet
New Delhi: A high-level meeting chaired by Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday decided to strengthen the human intelligence network in Maoist-hit areas to minimise casualties of security forces engaged in anti-naxal operations.
Had the intelligence gathering mechanism been strong enough, the incident could have been averted. Hence, there should be more engagement with the local population in the coming days, an official who attended the meeting said.
Singh told the officials to look for out of the box solutions to the problem of successive attacks on Road Opening Parties (ROP) in areas where development works were going on.
Rajiv Rai Bhatnagar appointed new CRPF chief after Sukma attack
The government on Wednesday appointed senior IPS officer Rajiv Rai Bhatnagar as new chief of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), two days after the force lost 25 men in a deadly Maoist attack in Sukma district of Chhattisgarh.
[caption id="attachment_111568" align="alignright" width="300"]
[/caption]
Bhatnagar, a 1983 batch officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre, was appointed to the post nearly two months after the retirement of previous incumbent K. Durga Prasad on February 28.
Additional Director General Sudeep Lakhtakia, a 1981 batch IPS officer, was handling additional charge as CRPF Director General.
Prasad headed the force as its chief for one year from March 1, 2016 to February 28, 2017.
Bhatnagar is currently serving as Director General of the Narcotics Control Bureau - an ADG rank post which has temporarily been upgraded to a Special Director General rank.
