Pattern shows Naxals gunning for Salwa Judum

With special police officers accounting for 34 of the 54 killed in Chhattisgarh early this morning, speculations are rife that the Naxalites might have begun implementing their recent resolve to stamp out peoples’ movements directed against them. The attack comes nearly eight months after 25 Salwa Judum activists were killed by the Naxalites at an Errabore relief camp in Dantewada district.

The first sign indicating that Naxalites were back with a renewed vigour came in the form of the killing of JMM MP Sunil Mahato, a vocal opponent of the movement in Jharkhand. However, it was not clear if all the SPOs killed or injured were officially part of the Salwa Judum project. They were drawn from among the local tribal population and were part of a temporary police camp set up to control Naxalite activities in Bhairamgarh block of Bijapur district. The group also included a road opening party since there were instances of roads in the area being mined or blocked. Shortly after the incident, police and CRPF teams fanned out to adjoining areas amid apprehensions that mines or bombs may have been planted to inflict further damage.

After the attack, the Centre placed a BSF helicopter at the state government’s disposal to evacuate the injured police personnel. The Union Home Ministry has, however, turned down requests from Naxal-affected states in the past for air-power during operations, saying that helicopters should be used “mainly to transport people injured in attacks or speed up movement of police personnel during an operation”.

Recent figures show that Chhattisgarh accounts for a majority of incidents and casualties when it comes to Naxal violence. Last year, the state witnessed 715 incidents of Naxal violence that left around 304 civilians, 84 security personnel and 74 Naxalites dead. According to a ministry spokesman, 13 battalions of Central paramilitary forces, including the CRPF, are already deployed in Chhattisgarh to assist the state police in anti-Naxal operations.