It was always a lost battle in Pamed

Security personnel posted at Pamed police station, who came under attack on Friday, were fighting a losing battle from the beginning.

Security personnel posted at Pamed police station, who came under attack on Friday, were fighting a losing battle from the beginning.

The police station is located in an inaccessible area inside the “liberated guerrilla zone”. Though about 60 police personnel, 40 from the district police and 20 from the Chhattisgarh Armed Police, were posted at the station, they only had themselves to fall back upon as anyone heading for the police station needs to walk for hours through Naxal-infested jungles to reach them. The nearest police station in Chhattisgarh is at Usur, which is about 50 km away, and in Andhra Pradesh at Cherla, about 12 km from Pamed.

IG (Bastar) R K Vij said the police personnel operate from a single-storeyed building, which also serves as their barracks. “There are barracks for the 60 personnel posted there. The police station doesn’t have road connectivity or a power connection. The only communication system available was a wireless set—there are no phone lines or mobile services operational in the area,” the IG added. The wireless sets are operational through solar power, a provision for which has been made at the police station, he stated.

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He added that though the attack site was just 8 km from the police station, a rescue party could not be sent to help personnel who had been ambushed. “There were about 21 policemen in the party which came under attack. Sending more men from the police station would have made them a soft target for Naxalites,” he added.

Sources said the police department had anticipated an attack on the personnel posted at the station, and a proposal to shut it down had been submitted to the Chhattisgarh Government. However, the Government had rejected the proposal as it didn’t want to lose further ground to Maoist extremists. Except the police station there is no Government presence in Pamed area as all other departments have vacated their premises from the area which is heavily mined and infested with Naxalites. “Intelligence agencies had already warned that as the police station was located in an area dominated by Maoists it was felt that in case of an attack the defence of the post would not be possible and it should be withdrawn,” sources added.