CRPF activities in Tripura under cloud

AGARTALA, March 3: The performance of the Central Reserve Police Force in counter-insurgency operations in Tripura leaves a lot to be desired. This is evident from the ambush carried out by the National Liberation Front of Twipra this morning. Altogether 11 CRPF jawans, including two drivers, were gunned down by the rebels in the ambush. Police sources said altogether five vehicles carrying CRPF jawans had left the Bampur area for Ampi but the gap between vehicles in the convoy was such that when two jeeps came under attack, the jawans in the other vehicles failed to come to their rescue. Worse, the militants decamped safely with nine sophisticated firearms and a wireless set. The CRPF jawans have been posted in the Bampur area for a long time and the terrain is familiar to them. The CRPF had also received information about rebel movements in the area but when it came to the crunch, the jawans failed to save themselves. No senior CRPF official was available for comment. But official sources in the state administration hinted that having no real orientation in counter-insurgency operations, the CRPF, 15 battalions of which are currently deployed in Tripura, has failed to properly tackle combat situations. There are also allegations against the CRPF regarding their lack of alertness and a tendency to take it easy. On February 11, a CRPF jawan lost a carbine while on duty in the Mungiabari area of Teliamura. Police sources said CRPF havildar Charanjit Singh fell to talking with a group of tribal youth while on duty beside the Assam-Agartala national highway. The youth, actually collaborators of the NLFT, offered him free drinks at a nearby tribal hut. When the jawan moved a few steps towards the hut, he was overpowered and his carbine snatched by the youth. He was later suspended for dereliction of duty but the weapon has not been recovered yet. Till May last year, senior officials would often complain that the CRPF refused to listen to their orders about going in for operations. All the Opposition parties also levelled allegations that the CRPF was working in a partisan manner, targeting innocent non-tribals deliberately to buy safety in rebel-infested interior areas. The CRPF's role during the Bagber massacre in Kalyanpur police station area in May last year drew flak from all parties. The jawans did not move out of their camp in the Dushki area while unarmed non-tribals were butchered by armed militants. Even the orders of senior police officers were flouted. Former CRPF inspector-general George C. Podypura had to extensively tour areas where his jawans were deployed to look into the allegations. Things appeared to have changed for the better after Bhusan Lal Vohra took over as director-general of police in July and the CRPF started acting on orders passed by police officers in various police station areas. But this morning's ambush has once again exposed the chinks in the CRPF's armour. Highly-placed sources in the administration said the state government was extremely perturbed over the statements by the heads of some paramilitary forces. Referring to the controversial interview given to a television channel by former Assam Rifles deputy inspector-general Brig. B.K. Ponwar, who had cited wrong demographic figures of the state to put across a "biased viewpoint" early last year, a source said, "The CRPF is okay as they are trying hard but we reserve our comment on the performance of Assam Rifles." Sources said officers of the Assam Rifles were quite satisfied that areas controlled by them were relatively peaceful but in reality it was not so. "They do not seem to be going in for proactive operations to break the military backbone of the outlawed militants," a source added. The sources expressed the fear that once the Assam Rifles are withdrawn, there would be trouble.