Ex-intel officer: Negligence, complacency caused Gadchiroli tragedy

Sheer negligence on part of various security agencies might have resulted in the avoidable tragedy in which 15 commandos of the elite Quick Response Team QRT were killed in a Maoist blast in Gadchiroli on Maharashtra Day May 1 a top security expert opinesFormer Additional Deputy Commissioner of the State Intelligence Department SID Shirish Inamdar in a freewheeling chat with IANS said that from all available indicators the QRT squad may have unwittingly walked into a trap laid by the MaoistsThere were at least a dozen intelligence alerts indicating the possibility of precisely such attacks in the Maoistinfested district but complacency may have overtaken caution particularly since the Parliament elections had passed off virtually peacefullyOminous signs had come in the hours preceding the strike Just a day before April 30 the Chhattisgarh Police had nabbed six dreaded Maoists from Aranpur in Dantewada In the early hours of May 1 the Maoists hit back by torching around 36 heavy vehicles in Kurkheda resulting in higher movement of security forces Barely hours later they triggered the road blast claiming 15 of our commandos Inamdar a retired Intelligence Officer points outIn such circumstances he suspects the Maoists had practically anticipated the retaliatory moves by the Maharashtra security forces which reacted as per their assumptions leading to tragedySoon after the Kurkheda incident the Deputy Superintendent of Police had ordered the QRT to rush there and probably since official armoured vehicles were not immediately available they took a private van says InamdarMaharashtra Minister of State for Home Deepak Kesarkar and DirectorGeneral of Police Subodh Jaiswal referred to this aspect which Inamdar dubs akin to making the security forces assisting pigeons easily targeted by the rebelsThe question is for how long was that private vehicle working for the QRT was the driver knowledgeable or trained for such sensitive assignment like transporting troops in a danger zone did the information about the security itinerary leak out to the Maoists and how wonders InamdarOn the contrary the government is trying to make political capital with emotional reactions a Minister claiming credit for successful elections in the Maoistinfested regions the Chief Minister saying their sacrifices wont go in vain and the Prime Minister saluting their bravery instead of concentrating on the root causesSuspecting that standard operating procedures may have been thrown to the winds Inamdar said it was not clear whether the Road Clearance Party RCP and Road Opening Party ROP did their job of sanitising the expected route taken by the QRT vanThe fresh road digging activity is clearly visible in videostelecasts apparently two vehicles had passed that route before the security van was blasted The Maoists got sufficient time to plant the explosives by digging the road covering it and retreating to their dens there are too many unanswered questions Inamdar saidOn how the rebels in Maharashtra and other Maoisttroubled states manage to get unlimited funds or uninterrupted supplies of arms and explosives the former top cop revealed that their methods were similar to terror groups worldwideNearly twothirds of the arms and ammunition are stolen In the May 1 case there were no guns seen lying in the vicinity of the blast so we can easily draw this conclusion he addsAs for funds they cultivate opium in isolated areas which is sold for their various needs or simply swapped for more arms with the narcotics mafiaWhile the sophisticated arms go to the toplevel guerillas the other lower cadres use mostly countrymade arms or even bowarrows and occasionally even slings smiles Inamdar knowingly having served in some of the affected regionsHe ruled that in the socalled Controlled Areas where the Maoists are the virtual rulers they cultivate opium have illegal arms manufacturing factories build small dams bridges wellequipped training camps and other necessary infrastructure for their survival and it is practically impossible for anybody to infiltrate thereEven in the Liberated Zones which Maoists dont completely control but even the government has limited access other illegal activities nevertheless flourish virtually unhinderedHowever Inamdar says that the threepronged policy of the former UPA government when P Chidambaram was the Union Home Minister has proved to be extremely successful in containing the red rebels menace across the country and left untouched even by the BJPled NDA government since past five yearsThese pertained to No Negotiations with the Maoists LowIntensity Conflict to clear their areas of influence and All Inclusive Development in all the affected regions around the countryThe proof of success is that since the past nearly two decades the government and security forces have restricted them to their areas of influence without giving them space to spill over to other territories development activities along with employment have noticeably increased in the affected areas Inamdar explainsHowever on the surrender policy Inamdar is a tad sceptical as mostly new Maoist recruits with limited knowledge of the operations of the top commanders and their forces opting for it or others defecting to the laws side without specific reasonsThe latter variety can be tricky as some may be tempted to act as doubleagents but the entire responsibility of protecting and rehabilitating them is the governments job making it a very risky and costly proposition concludes InamdarCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get the latest updates