The Uttar Pradesh Government, led by Chief Minister Mayawati, laid the blame for the attack squarely on the CRPF’s door. But officials of the paramilitary force, deciding not to join issue with the state government, said that the Rampur camp was an administrative centre — not an operations base like in Jammu and Kashmir where the CRPF also acts as its own police force. In other words, local police had to provide the outer cordon of security.

Caught in this cross-fire, officials say, are some disturbing aspects of the attack and the circumstances around it. Consider the following:

• The main road passing through the camp — linking Rampur to Khagapur — continues to be a public thoroughfare although the matter of restricting access was taken up with the local administration and police at a recent meeting but to no effect. “The centre is next to a railway line and the main road through the camp is a public thoroughfare. We had put up a picket outside the campus to tackle possible militant threats,” said Inspector General (Operations) AP Maheshwari. This picket was over-run this morning.

• This assumes significance given the importance of the Rampur centre, one of the three in the state — the other two are at Bijnore (Lucknow) and Allahabad. Recruitments were last done here on December 26 and there were intelligence inputs that terrorists were targeting security force recruitment centres.

• Although the CRPF has 43 such group centres nationwide, right next to the scene of the attack is one of CRPF’s two Central Weapons Stores (CWS) — the other one is in Pune. The CWS is guarded by three companies of the force. The Rampur centre is a key supplier of arms and ammunition to units, including those deployed in J&K. Says UP’s Principal Secretary (Home) J N Chamber: “The Rampur CRPF centre is the best unit of the country’s best paramilitary force.”

... contd.