CRPF has constituted an inquiry into the allegations made by a commando where he charged his commanders of not following standard operating procedures during an operation in a Naxal hotbed in Chhattisgarh early this year.
Sujoy Mondal, a trooper of CRPF's elite Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA), alleged that during an anti-Naxal operation in April this year in Chhattisgarh's Bastar his commander on ground, a Deputy Commandant rank officer, was "untrained" for such tasks.
A strong posse of Naxals ambushed this commando squad when they were out after escorting a polling party in the area as general elections were on in the country.
"Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) were not followed (during the operation) by the squad commander. A plan should have been made before...That was an unthoughtful movement. About 70 per cent of troops in this squad did not had proper training for operating in Naxal areas," Mondal, who is now on leave in his home in West Bengal, had alleged.
Central Reserve Police Force chief Dilip Trivedi said the force is already probing the said operation as three commandos were killed while five were injured during the ambush.
The inquiry, Trivedi said, was being conducted by a Deputy Inspector General rank officer.
Mondal also alleged that on the directions of the main commander, all the unit leaders of the squad were asked to "give identical statements" after the Naxal ambush got over.
Maoists had also looted the weapons of slain commandos during the ambush.
CRPF sources said the statements of all the officers and some jawans involved in the said operation would be recorded to ascertain the sequence of events and to validate if there was indeed a failure of command.
