NEW DELHI: The Chhattisgarh police on Monday arrested six alleged Maoists, including self-styled commander Barsa Lakhma, in connection with the April 6 massacre of 76 security personnel in Dantewada. The arrested Naxals reportedly told the police that the CRPF men had become sitting ducks after the Naxalites got hold of the deputy commandant’s lost wireless set and used it to keep track of all communications and movements of the CRPF party.
“We have arrested six people in two different incidents last night from Morpali, some four kilometers from Chintalnar,” Dantewada superintendent of police Amresh Mishra was quoted saying.
The arrested Naxals told the officials during their interrogation that the CRPF personnel had become vulnerable after they lost the wireless set of the killed deputy commandant of the 62nd CRPF battalion. Lakhma said the Naxals were keeping a close tab on the movement of the para-military force personnel with the help of the wireless set.
The others arrested included Oyam Hidma, Podiyami Hidma, Kawasi Budra, Oya Ganga and Dura Joga. They told the police that they were keeping a close watch on the movements of CRPF personnel, including the “picnic” they had on April 5 during which the deputy commandant of CRPF lost his wireless set. After the incident, these six people gave a detailed de-briefing to Naxal top brass Ramanna and Papa Rao. The CRPF company was selected as a target because they had stayed put in one place for an entire day and their movements were under constant watch by Naxalites, Mr Mishra said.
The final kill was decided by Naxalites after the wireless set started buzzing on April 6 at 3 am, asking the men to get back to the ground and start searching for the lost wireless set. Link
