The Maoist attack on CRPF claiming the lives of 12 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel in an ambush in the Bhejji area of Sukma district in Chhattisgarh on Saturday morning is the replica of the attack which took place on the same day in 2014 when Maoist struck in Tahkawada region of Bastar killing 16, including 11 CRPF men, four police personnel and a civilian. The Maoist has been striking at will and inflicting heavy casualty over the para-military forces. Surprisingly the Saturday attack came when the CRPF personnel were on an area-dominance exercise for an ongoing road works and lasted for over an hour. The troops first came under heavy fire, and when they were trying to launch a counter-attack, hidden IEDs were triggered, leading to serial explosions. Eleven weapons and two wireless sets were also snatched by the Maoists. The NDA government has been claiming that since it came to power in 2014, Maoist violence has dipped by more than 40-45 per cent. In 2016, Chhattisgarh accounted for more than 37 per cent of the Naxal violence, followed by Jharkhand and Bihar. At the height of activity, the Naxalite were groups of far-left Maoist militants. Since the 1970s, they are considered a “failed” group that has largely broken in to small pockets and cells in India. There has to be some security lapses and chinks in the armour as it cannot be simple ideologically motivated Naxal who pick their target at convenience. There is no doubt that local support is with Naxals despite Centre’s all win over tactics under the garb of development as it was seen that lack of development in the area has led to the spread of Naxalism so that locals get a voice for their problems. During all these years CRPF has been on the target of Naxals and whatever civilian casualty is there it can be treated as collateral damage. Centre has to change its tactics and would have to reconsider its anti-Naxal operations.
