Rajnath Singh calls for ‘introspection’ over killing of CRPF men by Maoists

Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday called for “introspection” following the killing of 12 CRPF personnel in an ambush by Naxals in Chhattisgarh and said he has ordered an inquiry to identify lapses behind it.

He told the Lok Sabha that the attack on security personnel in the Sukma forests was an outcome of desperation among the Left Wing Extremists (LWEs) as they had suffered unprecedented losses last year.

“However there is a need for introspection over this incident. I have directed the DG, CRPF, to conduct a detailed inquiry into the incident so that the lapses that led to it can be identified, as this will reduce the possibility of the repetition of such incidents in the future,” he said.

The unprecedented success of security forces of late has led to “evident uneasiness” among the LWE groups, he told lawmakers.

Security forces have achieved tremendous success during 2016 in all LWE affected states, particularly in Chhattisgarh where 135 LWE cadres were killed, 779 arrested and 1198 surrendered, Singh said.

The number of violent incidents in Chhattisgarh also dropped by 15 percent from 466 in 2015 to 395 in 2016.

The number of LWEs killed increased by 150 percent (89 in 2015 to 222 in 2016) in 2016 while surrenders and arrests registered a combined increase of 47 percent over 2015 (2238 to 3282), he said.

Security personnel lost only three 2016 against 15 in 2015, he said.

CRPF personnel were ambushed on March 11 by Maoists with heavy firing and simultaneous use of IED blast, the Home Minister said, adding that two of them were seriously injured but are out of danger.

The extremists took away 13 weapons and 2 wireless sets of the security personnel. Singh named all the personnel killed and gave details of compensation given to their families.

The next of kin of the martyred CRPF personnel will be provided Rs 35 lakh as exgratia from the central government, Rs 20 lakh from the CRPF’s risk fund and Rs one lakh from the CRPF welfare fund, the Home Minister said.

They will also get Rs 25 lakh as insurance benefits and Rs three lakh as exgratia from the Chhattisgarh government, and the next of kin will get full salary till the age of superannuation of the personnel martyred under the Liberalised Pensionary Award (LPA), he said.