In Chattisgarh, on Saturday, 22 jawans were killed & 31 were injured in an encounter with Naxals. In the Sukma-Bijapur border, security forces had launched an operation to tackle the naxal menace, which resulted in an intense face-off that caused the deaths and injuries, with one soldier still missing. Kuldiep Singh, DG of CRPF reached the state to take stock of the situation. As per a statement from an official in the knowledge of the matter, a total of 24 injured jawans were brought to the Bijapur hospital.
For the last 10 days, security forces in Chattisgarh were getting information about the whereabouts of Madvi Hidma, who is a top-naxal of the banned CPI (Maoist). Hidma has been linked to major attacks which include the 2013 Jihram Ghati Killings. Madvi Hidma is the youngest Central Committee member of Communist Party of India (Maoist) and the search for him led to the encounter.
The dead bodies of two jawans from the Commando Battalions for Resolute Action (CoBRA) were recovered on Saturday, and they were later air-lifted to Jagdalpur in Chattisgarh’s Bastar district.
Among two of the jawans killed in action, one was from the CoBRA unit & the other was from the Bastariya Battalion of the Central Reserve Police Force. The other 3 jawans who lost their lives in the encounter were enlisted with the District Reserve Guard.
P Sunderraj, Inspector-General of Police (Bastar) said that at least nine Naxals were killed in the encounter with security forces that lasted three hours. A woman Maoist was among those killed. However, security forces estimated that over 15 Maoists were killed in the encounter. Tribute was paid to the CRPF jawans killed in the line of action at the force’s camp in Jagdalpur, on Sunday morning.
Last month, the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) had arrested three Naxals for planting IEDs to target security forces. Two IEDs were recovered during the operation at Bakarkatta in Chhattisgarh’s Sukma district. Among the Maoists arrested was a deputy commander of a militia platoon. After a party of jawans was ambushed by Maoists near Jonnaguda village around noon on Saturday, the encounter broke out between security forces and Naxals along the Sukma-Bijapur border. The encounter spot was barely 15 km from the Tarrem base camp of security forces as per official confirmation.
This ambush was similar to the one executed by Naxals in Tadmetla in 2010 and Minapa in 2020. The Maoists PLGA Battalion was led by its commander Hidma. Having a total strength of nearly 250, this group of Naxals was aided by insurgents associated with the Maoist platoons of Pamed, Konta, Jagargunda, and Basaguda area committees.
On the other angle of the story of Left-Wing Extremism, the case of Chattisgarh should be a lesson to be learnt, which has evaded the central authorities for decades. After originating in Naxabari in West Bengal, Naxalism has grown and proliferated roots in more than 150 of India’s 741 districts. Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand have decisively replaced Andhra Pradesh as the top states infested with LWE. The state of Chhattisgarh provides terrifying lessons on how Naxalism should not be fought by unleashing state repression against unarmed civilians, by creating, training, and instigating bandits who target Naxalites, and by violating the citizen’s civil liberties, even while perpetuating gruesome injustices against the poor. Last year, the Chattisgarh government had begun its work to open 8 new police-stations to augment its hold over the Maoist strongholds. Despite all the preparations, the security forces were not able to fathom or anticipate the attack when they went ahead to nab Hidma, which shows the disconnect of the security forces from the ground sentiments and consequential actionable and reliable intelligence.
While the deaths of soldiers at the hands of the LWE men is unpardonable, the state and the centre should understand and heed to the words of the experts who point out to the apathy of authorities for the poor, which keeps fueling the zeal and filling up the ranks of the LWE units.
