Dantewada attack: Four cops likely to face action

The government is learnt to be finally moving in to fix responsibility on some police officers for Dantewada incident last month...

The government is learnt to be finally moving in to fix responsibility on some police officers for Dantewada incident last month,in which 75 CRPF personnel and one Chhattisgarh policeman were killed by Naxalites,and initiate action against them on the basis of the recommendations of the one-man inquiry committee.

Facing the heat are four IPS officers posted in Dantewada,three belonging to the Chhattisgarh Police and one with CRPF. At a meeting at Jawaharlal Nehru University last week,Home Minister P Chidambaram had blamed these four officers IG T J Longkumer,DIG S R P Kalluri,SP Amresh K Mishra and DIG CRPF Nalin Prabhat for sending the forces on the ill-fated operation thoughtlessly,without planning.

Chidambaram visited the CRPF headquarters on Wednesday morning and was closeted with the top officers to discuss the findings of the report submitted by former BSF DG E Rammohan who had inquired into the incident. Chidambaram spent more than two hours at the CRPF headquarters and sources said discussions were centered around corrective actions that needed to be taken to prevent incidents like Dantewada in future.

Sources said the government was likely to announce in the next two or three days the action that it intends to initiate on the recommendations of the Rammohan committee.

Though the report is yet to be made public,Rammohan is understood to have held the deputy commandant and assistant commandant of the CRPF,both of whom were killed in that operation,responsible for command and control failure. Sources said Chidambaram had been of the view that putting the entire blame on dead soldiers was not enough and that senior officers who planned the operation must also be held accountable. The irony,however,is that all the four officers whose role is currently under the scanner,are known to be proven assets in the fight against Naxalism and have a long experience in carrying out anti-Naxal operations.

OFFICERS UNDER SCANNER:

Nalin Prabhat: This CRPF DIG is a 1992 batch IPS officer of Andhra Pradesh cadre and has had a good track record in Naxal operations. He joined in his present position in Dantewada barely two weeks before the incident. As SP in Karimnagar and Warrangal districts of Andhra Pradesh,Prabhat had earned the reputation of a tough cop against Naxalites,planning and executing several successful operations. Ironically,Prabhat had in the first week of January,when he was posted in Jammu and Kashmir,come in for a lot of praise for his role in foiling the militant attack at Lal Chowk in Srinagar.

Amresh Kumar Mishra: A 2005 batch IPS officer,this is Mishras first posting as SP and it has been a baptism by fire for this young officer. Barely a year in this position,Mishra has earned the confidence of his seniors in Raipur and is also rated highly by his subordinates. Policemen in Dantewada say he has energised the forces ever since he came to the town and the number of operations against Naxalites had increased substantially under his charge.

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S R P Kalluri DIG,Dantewada: Originally from Andhra Pradesh,Kalluri is a 1994 batch IPS officer. Like Prabhat,he too has a reputation of an extremely effective officer in anti-Naxal operations. He earned his name during his stint in Sarguja district where he led a number of successful operations.

T J Longkumer IG,Bastar: As IG of Bastar,this 1991 batch IPS officer has one of the most crucial policing jobs in Chhattisgarh. Longkumar has been the guiding force behind all the operations in the five districts that have been carved out of the erstwhile Bastar district and which are the worst affected by Naxal violence.