Kolkata:
Two days after 24 Eastern Frontier Rifles (EFR) jawans were killed in the deadliest Maoist strike in West Bengal, the state government on Wednesday ordered an inquiry into the incident and said action would be taken against senior officers if they were found wanting.
"An official inquiry has been ordered into the incident," West Bengal Home Secretary Ardhendu Sen told reporters after a high level meeting which reviewed the situation in the wake of the Maoist attack.
"It is not a clear case of intelligence failure. There was intelligence report that the Maoists were assembling in the area, though there was no specific information that they may attack the EFR camp," he said.
Asked if action would be taken against senior officers if they were found wanting, Sen said, "Let us complete the probe. A specific charge against any officer has to be established. If anyone is found guilty, action will be taken."
On the issue of the state government's inaction when it had possession of intelligence report of such attacks, Sen said the report had come into its (the state government's) hand at 2 PM only, barely three hours before the attack, and it had taken time for the information to percolate down to the lower level.
The sentries at the EFR camp had retaliated in which one Maoist was killed and some others were injured, he said. "But there was some lapse no doubt".
The home secretary said who would conduct the probe and what would be the terms of reference of the inquiry would be decided soon.
Asked if Maoist leader Kishenji had escaped to Jharkhand, Sen said that he was very much in Bengal and "we are after him".
Refuting the allegation that the EFR did not have proper training to combat the Maoists, he said, "It is not correct. They are a highly motivated, disciplined and well-trained force."
He said the government knew that Shilda was not the suitable place for location of the EFR camp and it was even planned to shift it, but ultimately that was not done in view of local people's insistence that the camp stayed there.
Locals had said that they would feel insecure if the camp was shifted from Shilda, Sen said, adding the camp was for area domination.
Further steps had been taken for the fortification of camps of security forces in the Maoist-hit areas in the state.
The bodies of the slain EFR jawans were on way to their homes in north Bengal and senior officials, including the DM, would receive them at Siliguri, he said.
The home secretary dubbed the attempt from "some quarters" to drive a wedge between the Gorkhas and non-Gorkhas as "irresponsible" and said it was not correct.
The home secretary said it was incorrect to say that one particular community had made sacrifice. As many as 21 security force personnel were killed in the Maoist belt in the last three years since 2007 and among them were many from other communities, he pointed out.
Sen said that compensation of Rs 15 lakh would be given to the nearest kin of every slain EFR jawan within the next 3-4 days.
The high-level meeting was attended by Chief Secretary Ashok Mohan Chakraborty, DGP Bhupinder Singh, IGP (law and order) Surajit Kar Purkayastha besides the Home Secretary.