Ranchi, July 5
The whole chain of event that led to the death of Bundu SDPO, narrated by the police – is something that the senior IPS officials on investigation are unable to gulp. The police officials do not undermine the involvement of some insider in the incident.
A primary investigation points that there were no indiscriminate firing, face-to-face encounter or a platoon of naxalites mobilized to ambush the police party - it was just a blast and everything was over. The incident followed the arrest of five youths while the whole village migrated in presence of the police force.
The senior police officials after the primary investigation did not appear satisfied with the story of the Tamar OC on the landmine blast that killed SDPO Bundu Pramod Kumar and four others at Pundidirhi village. The SDPO’s jeep that stood just above landmine as the OC’s jeep stopped after crossing it safely, no recoveries of shells of the claimed burst fire by the naxalite and just 24 rounds fired by the police party in retaliation of the attack is creating a doubt in the mind of the investigating officers.
A senior police official said that a prima facie investigation into the matter nullifies the claims of the eyewitness. "The CRPF fired just 24 rounds. If in any case there was an encounter or a burst fire - the number of rounds fired would have been pretty high. Generally, when there is a encounter the firing done by the CRPF is indiscriminate. It seems that the firing were just done to clear the area," claimed a senior IPS official on condition of anonymity.
Another IPS official confirming the fact said that if there is a bust fire always follows at least 500 rounds of firing. "A burst fire means that the number of the naxalites is unknown. In such a case we resort to indiscriminate firing," he added.
The police officials did not confirm the recovery of the bullet shells that was claimed to be fired by the extremists. "Till the last information came in there was no recovery of the shells. The search is still on," MS Bhatia, SSP Ranchi confirmed.
The accuracy with which the naxalites blasted the SDPO jeep has also come under scanner. "The jeep stood exactly above the landmine. The blast was triggered from about 80 meters away from the crater. The stopping of the vehicle just above the landmine cannot be treated just a coincident," the IPS officer claimed.
Bhatia, however, turned down the possibility claiming that to identify the official vehicle is an easy task. "Identifying his vehicle was not a hard job. It is the senior officials who move on the white Mahindra Jeep. They must have seen the patrolling party on their way to the Manikidih village and then triggered the blast as they returned," he added.
Police sources claimed that the police party had inspected 21 doubtful spots before the incident took place. "A look at the crater and the wiring suggests that the landmine was not planted long back. It is surprising how the first vehicle that crossed the spot did not notice it," claimed a senior IPS officer who had reached the spot after the incident.
The whole chain of event that led to the death of Bundu SDPO, narrated by the police – is something that the senior IPS officials on investigation are unable to gulp. The police officials do not undermine the involvement of some insider in the incident.
A primary investigation points that there were no indiscriminate firing, face-to-face encounter or a platoon of naxalites mobilized to ambush the police party - it was just a blast and everything was over. The incident followed the arrest of five youths while the whole village migrated in presence of the police force.
The senior police officials after the primary investigation did not appear satisfied with the story of the Tamar OC on the landmine blast that killed SDPO Bundu Pramod Kumar and four others at Pundidirhi village. The SDPO’s jeep that stood just above landmine as the OC’s jeep stopped after crossing it safely, no recoveries of shells of the claimed burst fire by the naxalite and just 24 rounds fired by the police party in retaliation of the attack is creating a doubt in the mind of the investigating officers.
A senior police official said that a prima facie investigation into the matter nullifies the claims of the eyewitness. "The CRPF fired just 24 rounds. If in any case there was an encounter or a burst fire - the number of rounds fired would have been pretty high. Generally, when there is a encounter the firing done by the CRPF is indiscriminate. It seems that the firing were just done to clear the area," claimed a senior IPS official on condition of anonymity.
Another IPS official confirming the fact said that if there is a bust fire always follows at least 500 rounds of firing. "A burst fire means that the number of the naxalites is unknown. In such a case we resort to indiscriminate firing," he added.
The police officials did not confirm the recovery of the bullet shells that was claimed to be fired by the extremists. "Till the last information came in there was no recovery of the shells. The search is still on," MS Bhatia, SSP Ranchi confirmed.
The accuracy with which the naxalites blasted the SDPO jeep has also come under scanner. "The jeep stood exactly above the landmine. The blast was triggered from about 80 meters away from the crater. The stopping of the vehicle just above the landmine cannot be treated just a coincident," the IPS officer claimed.
Bhatia, however, turned down the possibility claiming that to identify the official vehicle is an easy task. "Identifying his vehicle was not a hard job. It is the senior officials who move on the white Mahindra Jeep. They must have seen the patrolling party on their way to the Manikidih village and then triggered the blast as they returned," he added.
Police sources claimed that the police party had inspected 21 doubtful spots before the incident took place. "A look at the crater and the wiring suggests that the landmine was not planted long back. It is surprising how the first vehicle that crossed the spot did not notice it," claimed a senior IPS officer who had reached the spot after the incident.
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