Chhattisgarh Maoist ambush: 49 jawans vs 400 Maoists, and SOS that went in vain

JAGDALPUR (BASTAR, CHHATTISGARH): When Maoists ambushed a team of special task force (STF) personnel in forests of Pidmal in Sukma on Saturday, the injured jawans hammered away alerts on tracker device seeking help, but reinforcements reached very late.

"There was a big delay even though the SOS was sent minutes after the ambush," injured STF constable Arvind Sharma told TOI at Jagdalpur hospital. "When we realized the team had been ambushed, I pressed the button on tracker device which works like an alarm indicating that firing has begun and the force has been ambushed. It directly alerts police headquarters and STF base camp at Baghera in Durg district," said the native of Gorakhpur, who suffered bullet injuries on both legs.

Sharma said the tracker instrument gives the exact location of the ambush. "While the firing continued till 3.30 pm, we didn't even get an opportunity to send SMSes or even check where bullets were hitting us. We were hoping that additional forces would rush in, but none turned up. In fact, injured jawans walked continuously for 13 km after sustaining bullet injuries," he said.

Another injured jawan, Ranjeet Singh, said more than 400 Maoists ambushed them and he failed to understand why such a small team of 49 STF jawans was sent to an area dominated by rebels. "We carried all other injured jawans to the nearest CRPF camp and continued to retaliate. The rebels kept following us," he said.

Bastar SP Ajay Yadav said the tracker also works offline and alerts base camp and PHQ on jawans' locations, movements and helps in cross-checking if the team was actually on a search operation.

A police source confirmed they had received the alert, but not any SMS on gun battle between forces and Maoists. Bastar IG SRP Kalluri could not be reached for his comment on allegations of lack of coordination.