Even small mistakes can kill in this battle against the rebels. A landmine explosion in Jharkhand’s Bokaro district on June 11 killed eight Special Auxiliary Force personnel and wounded five other policemen travelling in an anti-landmine vehicle. The explosion took place at Sarubeda between Nawadih and Bermo.

The postmortem reports confirmed that the policemen had died of head injuries. According to the operating procedures, the personnel should wear helmets and use seatbelts even if they are travelling in an anti-landmine vehicle. But none of those who had died wore helmets. “Under the impact of the blast, the vehicle was tossed in the air, fell and rolled over before standing up again. In the process, they received head injuries,” said Jubrail Ansari, driver of the vehicle who survived the attack.

Investigations revealed that the air-conditioner in the vehicle was not working. “Due to the heat, they had not worn helmets,” Ansari told the police.

In a state where more than 350 policemen have died in Naxalite violence since 2000 (more than 40 of them this year itself), the security personnel are often found breaking the rules. “The number of casualty could have been far less had the security forces stuck to the rules,” said DIG R K Mullick.

On April 16, seven BSF personnel on poll duty and two staff of a private bus in which they were returning to their camp at Ladup died in a landmine explosion set off by the Maoists in Latehar.

Instead of walking back to the camp as per the SOPs, the personnel had requisitioned the bus.

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