I'm not sure if every account of this battle can be taken at face value. I've read a lot of contradictory things and all that I can conclude with some certainty is that 1) The Maoists had superior numbers and positions 2) there was 1 IED directed at an armored vehicle that was with the CPRF 3) the CRPF sent in reinforcements that were themselves caught in a bad spot and were ineffective 4) the Maoists overran some of the CRPF positions so that they were able to pick up weapons/equipment and they killed the commander of one of the CRPF forces at very close range.
This quote from the article that rhino posted is very enlightening. It's from the supposed Naxalite commander of the ambushing forces:
Reminds me very much of the Viet Cong. Bide your time while the government troops get bored with their uneventful search and destroy mission, and then hit with a well planned light infantry ambush, when your forces have local superiority.
Most of the CRPF troopers were killed by bullets, indicating that they were in a firefight and didn't have the training to know what to do.
I don't know what to make of reports that the CRPF fired on the Maoists first. Perhaps they caught sight of the enemy, killed a few, then pursued some retreating Maoists right into the larger force. The CRPF patrol was probably then pinned down, men exposed in the open, men bunching up, men losing their cohesiveness to fear. As that force was being destroyed, because the fact that the Maoists picked weapons up of the dead bodies and killed the commander while doing so indicates that the patrol was basically totally destroyed, rescuers walked up into another pre-prepared ambush on a different spot on the road/trail. That battle didn't go nearly as bad for the CRPF, but they still didn't perform to well. That fight probably went on for a while, which explains reports of a 5-hour firefight.
A lot of that is speculation but its my best educated guess.
This quote from the article that rhino posted is very enlightening. It's from the supposed Naxalite commander of the ambushing forces:
Reminds me very much of the Viet Cong. Bide your time while the government troops get bored with their uneventful search and destroy mission, and then hit with a well planned light infantry ambush, when your forces have local superiority.
Most of the CRPF troopers were killed by bullets, indicating that they were in a firefight and didn't have the training to know what to do.
I don't know what to make of reports that the CRPF fired on the Maoists first. Perhaps they caught sight of the enemy, killed a few, then pursued some retreating Maoists right into the larger force. The CRPF patrol was probably then pinned down, men exposed in the open, men bunching up, men losing their cohesiveness to fear. As that force was being destroyed, because the fact that the Maoists picked weapons up of the dead bodies and killed the commander while doing so indicates that the patrol was basically totally destroyed, rescuers walked up into another pre-prepared ambush on a different spot on the road/trail. That battle didn't go nearly as bad for the CRPF, but they still didn't perform to well. That fight probably went on for a while, which explains reports of a 5-hour firefight.
A lot of that is speculation but its my best educated guess.
