• Investigators have refuted Majji Shankar’s statement that he fired 11 LMG magazines and three SLR magazines before vacating his post. The claims of the other two who said they fired eight SLR magazines has been found to be false.

• “They simply abandoned their posts out of cowardice,” the investigation report states citing the fact that although the three claimed to have fired over 500 rounds, only a few empty shells were recovered from the watchtowers.

• All six sentry posts along the boundary of the outpost were manned by only SPOs. About 4,000, mostly tribal, youths from Bastar have been employed by Chhattisgarh Police as SPOs in the five Naxal-dominated districts. They are paid Rs 1500 per month and are given merely a general training in weapons-handling.

• The six positions were manned by nine SPOs who were inadequately trained. They weren’t able to detect the presence of Naxalites in the area until a .303 rifle was snatched from one of them, Todsa Putti.

• SPO Kawasi Aayatu admitted to providing a goat, five bottles of whisky and laandaa (country liquor) to security personnel to celebrate as he got married three days before the incident. Statements of SPOs Jagru Podiyam, Majji Budhram, Beladi Narayan, the cook of SC/ST welfare hostel Aayatam Nagaiya and Ram Shankar Singh Thakur confirmed that security personnel at the outpost were drinking intoxicants on a regular basis and most of them could have also consumed liquor on the day of the attack.

... contd.