'CRPF may have missed ambush point in Dantewada'

The Central Reserve Police Force contingent, which was massacred by Maoists in Dantewada, lost heavily because of a misreading of the ground situation and walked into a Maoist trap, Chhattisgarh police chief Viswa Ranjan said on Thursday.

"The unfortunate part is that in this (Dantewada) incident, they lost heavily because of a misreading of the ground situation, the cause of which may not be the (lack of) training, as many people are saying," he said.

"It may be very genuine that in the night time, they just missed the ambush point and walked into the trap," state Director General of Police Viswa Ranjan told reporters.

He added, "If they (CRPF personnel) had understood that this could be an ambush point, then obviously their formation would have changed. Even if some people were trapped, others would have reacted."

"What seems is that they were not able to read the ambush point and the whole company walked into the trap," he said, adding that even the world's best forces may not be able to react if caught in such a situation. Viswa Ranjan said the police was trying to reconstruct the scene and a clear picture will emerge only after talking to the injured personnel, who were currently in a state of trauma.

Ranjan said more operations will be launched against Maoists and these could be done in various ways, including a joint operation with clear demarcation of roles. He admitted that mistakes in had been committed by the CRPF, which has a long history of combat, as well as by the state police. "We learn from these mistakes," he said.

With the issue of coordination between central and state forces being raised in the wake of the Dantewada massacre, CRPF chief Vikram Srivastava said they were conducting anti-Maoist operations in close coordination with the Chhattisgarh police and a joint offensive will be carried out.

"We will do our planning in close consultation with the state director general of police and the state officers. We will have good coordination with them and it will be a joint plan," Srivastava said.

Srivastava said the CRPF contingent, which was attacked by Maoists, was on an area domination duty and the men fought back bravely.