RAIPUR: The killing of seven jawans in an IED blast triggered by the outlawed CPI (Maoist) in Dantewada district on Sunday has thrown open a whole range of questions.
For starters, was it command failure and the failure to follow the standard operating procedures (SOPs) responsible for the ill-fated private SUV taking the black-topped road on the Jagargunda-Cholnar route, some 430 km south off Raipur? The vehicle was often used by the town inspector of Kirandul police station and plied almost routinely along the route, sources informed TNIE.
Under whose instruction were the jawans allowed to use the vehicle that was regularly used by the local police officer? Did the road opening party sanitise the area before the SUV entered the stretch?
“They have been deployed there for some years. That may have turned them a bit apathetic to the potential dangers in the core Maoist hotbed. They may have presumed the blacktopped road was safe. IEDs are planted randomly by Maoists and periodic de-mining operations also carried out.
It was a sad incident,” said Vivekanand Sinha, IGP, Bastar. The powerful IED was an old one and the place has good ironore deposits.
“That’s why it often gives false signals during de-mining exercises. Continuous de-mining of IEDs is a big challenge,” the IG said.
According to P Sunderraj, DIG, state police headquarters, all seven jawans were returning from operation duty in Jagargunda when the blast happened. In the conflict zone of Bastar, the security forces are advised not to deviate from the SOPs during their movement and operations.
In fact, if the distance is not too long, jawans are expected to walk along the road flanks and remain cautious, as Maoists are adept in planting IEDs to target them.
On Tuesday, Chief Minister Raman Singh is scheduled to visit Bacheli, barely 10 km away from the blast site. Why was the road in the region not effectively sanitised? If the deceased jawans were actually the road opening party, why did they use the vehicle?
“The violation of any rule of jungle warfare is not acceptable in the Maoist heartland where the security forces must remain on high alert as they can be targeted from anywhere,” said the guerrilla warfare expert Brigadier (Retd) BK Ponwar.
One of the biggest strengths of the Maoists are the local villagers who pass real-time information. The vehicle was easily targeted by Maoists when the nearest camp of the security forces was not even a kilometre away.