Countering claims that the operation against naxals in Chhattisgarh, in which 22 security personnel were killed was an intelligence failure, Director General of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) Kuldeep Singh pointed out that if it was a bait, the ambush would have been set up at a place where the security forces would have suffered the maximum damage and more men would have been martyred.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had, on Monday, alleged that the operation was "incompetently" executed and "poorly designed".
The security personnel were ambushed by naxals when they were out on a combing operation in a forest along the border of the Bijapur and Sukma districts of the state.
Singh said the security personnel were moving through an area that was in control of the naxals and where they had a tactical advantage. He said the naxals opened fire on the CRPF party when they were returning from an operation and added that the security personnel fought bravely.
Singh claimed that the Maoists side suffered considerable damage as well. "We suspect that 25-30 of them are injured and about one-third of them have died,” Indian Express quoted him as saying.
He had acknowledged that his personnel were "surprised and ambushed" during the attack on Saturday that lasted several hours.
According to another CRPF official, the naxals may have gathered information about the movement of personal as the CRPF has been conducting the operations in the area for long. "So, them appearing prepared does not always mean that they have prior information about the movement of our forces," he was quoted as saying.
