Evacuation of security personnel from Naxal-based areas kicks up row

The Central government's evacuation process of security force personnel from Naxal-dominated areas came under a major controversy after an assistant commandant of CRPF Bibhor Kumar Singh lost both his legs in one such anti-Naxal operation recently. Writes ETV Bharat Senior Correspondent Gautam Debroy.

New Delhi:The Central government's evacuation process of security force personnel from Naxal-dominated areas came under a major controversy after an assistant commandant of CRPF Bibhor Kumar Singh lost both his legs in one such anti-Naxal operation recently.

A section of security force officials, aware of the incident, as well as family members of Singh, claimed that such an extreme situation where the CRPF official lost both his legs, could have been avoided "had the evacuation process been on time."

A case diary compiled by a senior official of the security agency further said that "demand for a chopper was placed but it could not take off immediately due to various natural and administrative reasons."

According to the case diary, in possession of ETV Bharat, on February 24 a joint operation between 47 Bn of CRPF and district police was planned against Naxals in the Chakarbandha forest area of Gaya in Bihar. Assistant Commandant Singh was leading one of the teams of 205 CoBRA along with other teams. Their mission was to search the area and clear of from any Naxal presence.

"On February 25 morning, during a search operation in the area, security forces found a Naxal hideout...In the evening a team led by deputy commandant Varinder Pal Singh, during a search operation came under heavy fire from the Naxals," the case diary said.

Assistant Commandant Bibhor Kumar Singh planned to outflank the enemy in order to support the team under fire. The team led by Singh moved towards the spot and during an ongoing battle, an IED exploded following which Singh and his radio operator Surendra suffered serious injuries. In that blasts, Sing's legs were badly damaged.

"After the encounter, evacuation of both the injured was planned. Demand for chopper was placed but it could not take off immediately due to various natural and administrative reasons," the case diary pointed out.

However, the Indian Air Force (IAF) which was supposed to evacuate the injured from the spot with the help of its choppers was not able to reach the incident site due to adverse weather. The security personnel then carried both Singh and Surendra on a stretcher and reached Gaya hospital after walking at least 5 km on foot.

Singh was given first aid in the hospital after which it was suggested to shift him to Delhi AIIMS for surgery. "Following the deteriorating condition of the duo, an air ambulance was arranged and both of them shifted to AIIMS after almost 24 hours," the case diary of the incident said.

Several attempts made by this correspondent to get reactions of the Home Ministry and CRPF turned out futile.

Shocked over the incident, Ranbir Singh, general secretary of the confederation of ex-paramilitary forces martyrs welfare association demanded a high-level inquiry over the delay in evacuating the injured by the chopper.

"Had the chopper reached the incident spot on time, the severity could have been avoided. Surgery and operations on time could save Assistant Commandant Bibhor Kumar Singh's legs," said Ranbir Singh.

Assistant commandant Singh has a four-month-old daughter in his hometown in Bihar. "He was the only earning member of the family. He has two younger brothers behind him," said Bibhor Singh's father Dileshwar Singh to this correspondent.

Dileshwar Singh, a farmer, now expects that the government will do something for his family. "Doctors had to amputate both legs of my son. What he will do now. How can his family survive," asks Dileshwar Singh.

The incident at the Chakarbandha forest area was, however, not the only such instance. On earlier occasions, several such incidents took place. The latest incident has raised the demand for a dedicated helicopter service like the army and BSF's air wing for CRPF.

The IAF has been assigned with the task to carry out casualty evacuation, ferry security personnel in the Naxal affected areas. A government official privy to the security deployment told this correspondent that an IAF chopper based in Ranchi has been tasked to evacuate the injured security forces personnel from Naxal affected areas of Bihar and Jharkhand.
"Accordingly, the IAF has been assigned with their dedicated tasks for carrying such evacuation work in other Naxal belts," the official said.

As per the latest government statistics, 70 districts from 10 states across India are affected by Naxalites. Jharkhand (16), Chhattisgarh (14), and Bihar (10) are the top three states where the maximum number of districts are affected by Left-wing extremists.

In the last three years, 1844 Naxal-related incidents took place across India where 532 deaths were reported during the same period.