Sukma attack: ‘If jawans are not safe, how can they protect others?’

Four CRPF jawans from Tamil Nadu were among the 25 killed in Sukma. The state government announced Rs 20 lakh each to the families of head constable M Padmanabhan and constables N Senthil Kumar, N Thiru Murugan and P Alagupandi. S Vidhya, 29, Senthil’s wife, said they last spoke Sunday. “I have lost my husband. My husband went inside the forests for this country. The government should have known that, if we have no intelligence mechanism to ensure the safety of jawans, how will jawans ensure the safety of people?” A graduate in mathematics, Vidhya has an eight-year-old son.

B Ashok, a relative of Thirumurugan, said he spoke to Thirumurugan Sunday morning. Thirumurugan is survived by his wife T Selvi and two daughters, 11 and 10, and a son, 7.