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Days after Maoists ambushed and gunned down senior Congress party leaders Mahendra Karma and Nand Kumar Patel along with 25 people in Chhattisgarh’s Sukma district, security agencies have now concluded that the massacre was carried out by Maoists from Andhra Pradesh and Odisha and not by those who are fighting paramilitary personnel in Chhattisgarh.
Senior officials of the paramilitary have found out that the members of Communist Party of India (Maoists) had reached Sukma in small batches from different states to carry out the attack and they have probably now gone back to their bases to avoid being detected by paramilitary forces and police who are now combing the area.
“The fact that they were unable to identify Mahendra Karma and Nand Kumar Patel and were asking people to help them identify these senior Congress leaders indicates that Maoists were not from Chhattisgarh but had come to Sukma only to carry out the attack. The unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) had also not been able to spot the movement of hundreds of Maoists which suggests that they had reached Sukma in small batches from different routes to avoid being detected,” said a senior official who is involved in anti-Maoists operations in the state.
Members of the anti-Maoists operations indicated that the attack was carried out in the afternoon because Maoists wanted to use the night time to return to their bases so that paramilitary personnel are unable to trace them.
While blaming the state police for not following the standard operating procedure (SOPs) and not informing paramilitary personnel in advance, senior officials have found out that the security personnel of state police were only armed with pistols and small arms against assault rifles of Maoists.
“It was a blunder by state police by not following the standard operating procedure. This is a very big attack which has been carried out to boost the morale of Maoists who have faced heavy losses in jungles of Saranda in Jharkhand and Abujmaad in Chhattisgarh. Instead of taking on security personnel, Maoists decided to select soft targets who were not guarded properly,” the assessment done by security forces suggested.
Members of the anti-Maoists operations also believe the site of the ambush was selected by Maoists to ensure that paramilitary personnel and state police units are unable to reach for rescue in time. Senior officers have pointed out that the biggest mistake by Congress leaders was made when they decided to use the same road to reach and return from the venue of the public meeting.
“The road where the attack took place is seldom used by paramilitary personnel and state police. There was no road opening party to provide security cover to these Congress leaders and the nearest camp of CRPF personnel was nearly 25 kilometers away which made it difficult for the rescue team reach in time,” said a senior official.
