A wireless set misplaced by CRPF personnel during an area-domination operation in the Dantewada forests fell into the hands of Maoists who used it to monitor conversations, pinpoint the location of the securitymen and lay an ambush that killed 76?75 of them from the CRPF?on April 6. ?This has been revealed during the interrogation of Maoist commander Barse Lakma and five others who were arrested during a search operation in Chintalnar area,? said Dantewada SP Amresh Mishra.
He said they told police that their cadres had informed them on March 31 itself about heavy movement of securitymen from Dornapal to Chintalnar. The Maoists asked their cadres to closely monitor the movement of the securitymen.
?Next day, one of our men reported back that the security forces stayed near Mukram village, cooked food and moved on to Tadmetla. They were searching for something. Later, our people found a wireless set through which the conversation of CRPF personnel could be heard. We got minute details about the course of action of the security forces,? Mishra quoted one of the arrested Maoists as saying.
Listening in, the Maoists learnt that the securitymen were planning to go to Tadmetla again in search of a misplaced wireless set. The Maoists deployed their 200-250 military company, local guerilla squad and militia members who took positions near Tadmetla on April 5 itself. According to Mishra, the arrested Maoists admitted that CRPF men, injured in the ambush, were later shot dead. Their weapons, wireless sets, mobile phones were looted.