NEW DELHI: Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday stressed the need for "introspection" in the wake of killing of 12 CRPF jawans in an ambush-cum-IED blast by Naxals in Sukma (Chhattisgarh).
The Minister told the LoK Sabha that he has ordered the CRPF Director General to enquire into the incident and submit a detailed report identifying the lapses so that such incidents are not repeated in future.
The attack on security personnel in the Sukma forests was an act of desperation by the Naxals who had suffered significant losses at the hands of the security forces in Chhattisgarh in 2016.
"There is a need for introspection over this incident. I have directed the DG, CRPF, to conduct a detailed inquiry into the incident so that the lapses that led to it can be identified, as this will reduce the possibility of repetition of such incidents in the future," he said in his statement in the House.
Singh said the security forces have achieved major success in 2016 particularly in Chhattisgarh where 135 Naxals cadres were killed, 779 arrested and 1198 surrendered. The number of violent incidents in Chhattisgarh also recorded a decline of 15 per cent from 466 in 2015 to 395 in 2016, he said.
The number of Naxals killed in the Naxal-affected States increased by 150 per cent (89 in 2015 to 222 in 2016) in 2016 while surrenders and arrests recorded increase of 47 per cent over 2015 (2238 in 2015 to 3282 in 2016), the Minister told the lower House.
Security personnel lost only three lives in 2016 against an attrition of 15 in 2015 in the Naxal-hit States, he added.
The Naxals had ambushed and carried out an IED attack in Sukma on CRPF Road Opening Patrol party in which 12 paramiliatry jawans were killed and three injured. The ultras also took away the weapons of the killed jawans.