Kolkata: Families of security men killed in the Naxal attack at a camp in West Bengal's Silda on Monday have blamed the state government for the carnage.
The grief-stricken families of the jawans killed demonstrated on Tuesday accusing the government of failing to provide security to the security personnel during a visit by five West Bengal ministers including state Finance Minister Asim Dasgupta to the Salua camp.
The ministers had gone to attend the funeral ceremonies and pay homage to 24 Eastern Frontier Rifles (EFR) jawans killed in the attack.
But the ministers had to face the wrath of the slogan shouting family members of the security personnel. The family members demanded better training and infrastructure for the security forces.
The relatives had earlier agitated against the delay in handing over of the bodies.
They also demanded that the government give the jawans a free hand in tackling the rebels.
Later the ministers had a meeting with the agitators who handed them a charter of demands.
The agitators also raised slogans against Maoist leader Kishanji and Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee.
The dead jawans were given a 21-gun salute and then the bodies handed over to the families for the last rites.
Meanwhile, the Central Government has admitted that the forces meant to tackle Naxals are clearly under-prepared.
The Government will also be re-thinking its strategy to tackle the Naxals.
Home Secretary GK Pillai on Tuesday told CNN-IBN that the West Bengal police are ill-equipped to fight Naxals.
"I think the Maoists have basically selected what I would call as soft target. Because the West Bengal police are possibly the least prepared for tackling such menace as the Maoists. I don't think the Maoists would really dare to do this either in Gadchirolli or in Chhattisgarh where the police forces are far more shall I say battle hardened," Pillai told CNN-IBN.
West Bengal's top police officials have also admitted that jawans put up very little resistance and were no match for the bloodiest Naxal operation in West Bengal.
The camp's location also proved restrictive as it is situated right in the middle of a market and the chances of civilians being hurt hindered the forces.
The Centre said there was a clear intelligence failure but the Home Secretary of West Bengal, Ardhendu Sen, denied it
"I am sure same type of attacks took place at some other camp or thana. One has to go into specific situation instead of making general statements. It's not that West Bengal is not prepared. It's not an easy task to catch him (Naxal leader Kishanji) but you have seen over the last month or so repeated attempts have been made and in each attempt we have got closer to him including the one where we got his laptop, hearing aid etc. We are countering the attacks. These are being masterminded by a very small group. It's just a question of time. We will definitely catch him. Kishanji will be caught very soon," claimed Sen.
But security officials say that the Silda camp was a sitting duck for the Naxals.
They pointed that a public toilet inside the camp was used even by outsiders.
There were no sentries behind the bunkers or at vantage points including the roof when the attack occurred. There were no watchtowers, mandatory for any camp.
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