Forces didn’t follow SoP, says MHA

On Tuesday, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said standard operating procedure (SoP) was violated by forces resulting in the deaths. A meeting to review LWE in Chhattisgarh and other Naxal-hit states was called and it was decided to deploy additional forces to conduct operations ahead of polls.

The MHA advised the state “to conduct a thorough review of polling stations that witnessed violence in previous Lok Sabha and Assembly elections. Besides stepping up operations, “helipads and nearby areas need to be sanitised for smooth landing and take off.”

As reported by The Indian Express on February 19, the MHA had alerted the state saying, “the CPI (Maoist) will try to target vehicles engaged in electioneering, selective elimination and abduction of political leaders.”

Security agencies said Tuesday’s attack was meticulously planned and Naxals had been keeping watch on movements of security forces guarding a construction site. On Tuesday, the MHA reiterated to the state administration that “Naxals will carry out spectacular strikes in the run up to LS polls.”

Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde said, “I condemn the attack on CRPF and the police of Chhattisgarh. We are taking it seriously and will fight the Naxal movement. Every possible step will be taken to prevent recurrence of such incidents. This is the second such attack in the area, just 8 km from where the attack happened last time.”

Acknowledging that Maoists pose the biggest internal security threat, the MHA said Chhattisgarh is one of the strongholds of CPI (Maoist) and the state accounted for 31 percent of Naxal violence in 2013. Officials said despite efforts “basic policing practices are absent in worst affected areas and the police do not conduct joint operations with Orissa and Jharkhand.”