M A I N   N E W S

Gill lashes out at Chidambaram
Chitleen K Sethi
Tribune News Service

Gillspeak What they did wrong: n The men should not have been on patrol for four days n The operation was launched without a clear objective n Anti-mine vehicles should not be used in such operations Next Step: n Launch properly planned operation n Take all ground realities into account n Do not leak the operation to the Press before it is completed

Chandigarh, April 6
Former security adviser to Chhattisgarh and ex-DGP Punjab, KPS Gill today lashed out at the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) for having launched a “flawed operation” in the state, which, he said, was a clear fallout of "strategic bankruptcy" of the Home Minister P Chidambaram. Calling for an immediate re-think of the strategy evolved by the MHA to deal with Naxalites, Gill said,“Naxalism will remain a big threat as long as there is a political ambiguity in the state and the Centre has its head in the air in planning and axecuting these operations.”

Blaming the ‘patrol and ambush’ strategy for the loss of 70 lives at the hands of the Naxalites, Gill said sending out a company on a four-day patrol into the forest was a ridiculous concept. “Naxalites are not wandering around in these forests as big gangs to counter the police.

They watch the movement of the police, gather intelligence about their tactics and then set up an ambush at the place and time of the their choice,” he added.

The former Punjab top cop also pointed out that each person in the patrol was carrying a considerable load. “How can anyone be expected to keep that level of alertness after such gruelling march through the forest? It is no wonder that more than half the personnel of the patrol lost their lives in the ambush,” he said.

“It appears that the remaining force was travelling in anti-mine vehicles. I will christian these as sure-death vehicles. There have been scores of incidents where the vehicle has become a death tarp for the occupants. They are killed either due to an explosion or while getting out. But it appears we never learn from experience and keep on making the same mistakes again,” added Gill.

Gill, who remained the security adviser to Chhattisgarh for a year in 2006, however, refused to blame the intelligence agencies.

Criticising operation “Green Hunt”, Gill said, “Anti-Naxalite operations launched with such fanfare by the Home Minister in person do not take the ground realities into account. The state police forces are caught in a political morass and the central forces are too thinly spread to have a significant impact on the situation.”