By IANS,
Kolkata : As paramilitary forces hunted Tuesday for Maoists who massacred 24 security personnel in West Bengal killing some victims in a gruesome manner, the police admitted that the raid on an isolated police camp was a setback and said it would be shifted to a safer place.
“Location wise this Shilda police camp is not safe for the jawans,” Director General of Police Bhupinder Singh said after visiting the place that was stormed by armed Maoists Monday and set on fire.
Evidently cut up with the locals in West Midnapore district, he told reporters: “We set up this camp to provide a sense of security to the local people. But if they (locals) cannot give basis assistance to our personnel, we have to relocate the camp to a different place where our jawans will be able to retaliate if any such attack happens in future.”
He added that there was lack of enough security personnel in some of the camps in the region housing both the State Armed Police (SAP) and Eastern Frontier Rifles (EFR), a paramilitary body.
“It is a setback for us as we have suffered the loss of several lives in the attack. It was not expected at all. But we will continue our operation in the region,” Singh added.
A group of 60 armed members of the outlawed Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) killed at least 24 security personnel and left several injured Monday night after storming the Shilda police camp.
According to official sources, there were 35 EFR and 16 SAP personnel in the camp when it came under a well-planned and well-coordinated attack by some 60 guerrillas who came in vans and motorcycles.
The attackers opened indiscriminate fire, set fire to a portion of the camp after forcing the overwhelmed security personnel into a tent, reducing much of it to ashes.
Police reinforcements which reached the site came across bodies of their dead colleagues, some in civilian clothes, burnt cots, charred utensils as well as footwear besides firearms destroyed in the fire.
The Maoists quickly planted landmines at Narayanpurchak area – a place close to Shilda – in a bid to check security forces from pursuing them. They also shouted slogans and scattered pamphlets after the attack.
In no time, the CPI-Maoist claimed responsibility for the massacre and said it was avenging an “inhuman” crackdown on the rebels launched by both the state and central security forces.
Senior officials spoke to some security personnel who survived the audacious Maoist raid.
One officer said his men could not retaliate properly as it would have caused casualties among the civilians living nearby. According to the police, three Maoists were also killed in the attack.
“Though we don’t have the exact figure, we think at least 40 firearms were taken away by the Maoists,” Singh said.
An uneasy calm prevailed in Shilda region Tuesday as a heavy contingent of central forces started an intense search for the killers. Shops and markets remained closed and streets were deserted.
Singh said the joint operation “will continue as per our plan. We had asked for additional forces. Once we get them, we will start our operation in the Maoist belt again.”
He said the attackers appeared to have come from and escaped to neighbouring Jharkhand. “We are in talks with our counterparts in Jharkhand.”
The attack came six days after Home Minister P. Chidambaram met here officials of Orissa, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal to launch an inter-state offensive against the left-wing extremists.