Year on,Dantewada killers still free

As many as three inquiries were ordered into the April 6,2010 massacre,one by a former DG of BSF,E Rammohan,and two by serving officers of CRPF

A year after 76 police personnel,all but one from the CRPF,were killed by Naxals in Dantewada,the authorities have neither been able to nab any of the perpetrators nor hold anyone accountable for the worst-ever assault on security forces.

As many as three inquiries were ordered into the April 6,2010 massacre,one by a former DG of BSF,E Rammohan,and two by serving officers of CRPF.

Though none of the reports was made public,the role of four CRPF officers had come under cloud. Three of them DIG Nalin Prabhat,then commandant Vimal Kumar Bisht,and Inspector Sanjiv Bagre had been transferred. The fourth,then IG Ramesh Chandra,had already retired by the time the reports were submitted. Sometime later,then CRPF DG Vikram Srivastava was moved to Bureau of Police Research and Development,though this change was not attributed to the Dantewada massacre. That is all in terms of action that has been taken.

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Prabhat,who had been relieved of his additional charge in Chhattisgarh and moved to Chandigarh,has since taken over as DIG (Operations) in J&K. Bisht has been promoted as a DIG and sent to the Northeast,while Bagre is serving in J&K.

The inquiry committees had made several recommendations for a change in tactics and operating procedure,some of which have been incorporated. Financial compensations and jobs have been given to family members of the victims.

Officially,though,the CRPF has not given up its hunt for the perpetrators. In fact,only recently the CRPF issued fresh instructions to its officers and soldiers in the field that nabbing the perpetrators should be a top priority. The policemen have been asked to arrest,force a surrender,or even kill,if necessary,the perpetrators.

Police officials admit that it is now almost impossible to arrest the Naxalites who actually carried out the attack. But,they say,the Maoist leaders who planned the attack are well known and its important to keep the heat on and chase them.

Bastar people living with hunger: NAC

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National Advisory Council member and SC commissioner Harsh Mandar Wednesday said he could not confirm any starvation deaths in Morpalli and surrounding areas of Dantewada district in Chhattisgarh.

At the same time,he said people may not be dying but they are living with hunger in the conflict zones of South Bastar.

Mandar was talking to reporters here after returning from Morpalli village near Tadmetla where tension had escalated following the burning of houses of tribals last month.