Amidst the possibility that Naxals used villagers as ‘human shields’ during the recent anti-naxal operation in Chattisgarh, Union home minister P. Chidambaram on Wednesday said CRPF’s role in the encounter was transparent and upfront but he was “deeply sorry” if any innocent person has been killed.
He also said it was for the state government to decide whether or not it has to initiate any inquiry into the operation conducted under the direction of the state police.
The home minister further said that most of the persons killed in the encounter were adults with the youngest being 15 years old and “at least three of them have been identified as having a criminal record.” He also pointed out that six jawans also were injured in the firing.
On tribal affairs minister V. Kishore Chandra Deo’s charge that the offensive was “completely unacceptable”, Mr Chidambaram said, “If any innocent person has been killed, I am deeply sorry... if any girl, or boy or man or woman not involved with the Maoists at all has been killed, I can only be deeply sorry... I share Mr Deo’s sense of sadness and anguish at the loss of lives.”
Praising the central forces, Mr Chidambaram said, “CRPF D-G has said he has nothing to hide, nothing to fear. I do not think any central force has been so transparent. I am not going into the political controversies. I am the home minister and the CRPF is under me. We have been absolutely candid, frank and upfront,” he told reporters.
Meanwhile, the security forces are mulling evolving Standard Operating Procedures to counter Maoists’ strategy of using ‘human shields’ especially during night operations. The MHA has also alerted all naxal-affected states, particularly Chh-attisgarh, Maharashtra and Odisha about possible retaliatory action during Thursday’s bandh called by the Dandkaranya Zonal Committee of the Maoists in protest against the encounter