Kolkata: Two top state government officials
today contradicted each other on the purpose of inquiry into
the killings of 24 EFR jawans in the Maoist attack at Shilda
in West Bengal.
Home secretary Ardhendu Sen said that the probe would
recommend action to be taken against senior officers who were
found wanting, while Director-General of state police
Bhupinder Singh described it as "just a fact-finding" probe.
"An official inquiry has been ordered into the incident,"
Sen told reporters here after a high level meeting which
reviewed the situation in the wake of the Maoist attack.
"It is not a clear case of intelligence failure. There
was intelligence report that the Maoists were gathering in the
area, though there was no specific information that they may
attack the EFR camp," he said.
Asked if action would be taken against senior officers
if they were found wanting in the incident, he said, "Let us
complete the probe. A specific charge against any officer has
to be established. If anyone is found guilty, action will be
taken."
Describing it as "a fact-finding probe", the DGP, on the
other hand, said, "this type of inquiry is ordered after any
such incident in order to find lapses and suggest steps to
prevent it in future. This has nothing to do with fixing
responsibility or taking action against any officer".
Asked why no step was taken when the government had in
its possession the intelligence report, Sen said the report
had come into its (the state government`s) hand barely three
hours before the attack and it had taken time for the
information to get down to the lower level.
He said the sentries at the EFR camp had retaliated in
which one Maoist was killed and some others were injured. "But
there was some lapse no doubt," he said.
Asked if the state government would send a report to the
Centre on the Shilda incident, the home secretary said that
the DGP has been asked to prepare a report for the purpose.
The DGP said the CID had already started a separate
inquiry into the Maoist attack in Shilda.
Reiterating that it was a setback for the security
forces, the DGP said that the EFR personnel were not prepared
in the camp to thwart any attack.
He felt that irrespective of intelligence reports which
kept coming all the time, security force personnel in the
Maoist-hit areas should always be on the alert.
It seemed that a Maoist strike force from neighbouring
Jharkhand had launched the attack with the help of their local
associates and fled after the operation, the officer added.
PTI
