They knew. They came. They found. They left it for eight to die.
Yes, eight innocents lost their lives on 21st November 2010, merely a day after the district administration claimed with triumph that it had conducted the polls peacefully. The place was Pachaukhar, a naxal-infected village to the south of Deo in Aurangabad; the culprits none other than the district administration itself; and the victims – children with aspirations and hope for a bright future!
The incident is nothing short of treacherous murder by the people in authority. The district administration was duly informed on the 20th of November about the bomb planted along the roadside near the village. Taking the cue urgently, they rushed to the spot. The District Magistrate was there; the Superintendent of Police was there; and so was a company of CRPF, specially deputed in the area to conduct peaceful polls. Peaceful polls they did conduct, forgetting their over all duty of protecting the lives of people in general!
This speaks volumes about the mind set of administration during the polls. Its whole energy is channelized towards conducting peaceful polls, rather than conducting free and fair polls, leave aside considerations of lives. So when it was informed about the bomb being planted on the last day of polling in Bihar, it immediately rushed to the spot and cordoned the area. So good, so far; but once their watches ticked at three and the time for voting was over, they all heaved a sigh of relief and drove off triumphantly with the EVMs to pick up their medals for having one more peaceful poll under their belt.
Had the officials looked beyond the polls, the lives could certainly have been saved. But for them, conducting peaceful polls was their most sacred task and to save the lives of people their last conduct. Apparently, the local administration had no idea about defusing a bomb, nor did they take services of the para-military forces put on their command. On discovering the bomb they pulled it out from the pit and tried to defuse it by poring water over it. When nothing came out of it, they then poured some oil and tried to ignite it! Still, nothing happened; and so they dumped the nasty little thing that was in the form of a cylinder and left off with their heads held high. If the locals are to be believed, some of the officials jeered at them and mockingly asked them to take the cylinder to their homes and cook over it! Could there be more glaring example of dereliction of duty?
This incidence leaves us with a more pertinent question – are we truly geared up to counter the insurgency in the naxal-infected area? If it is dereliction of duty on one part, it is disregard to human life on the other. Had the administration taken it duty earnestly, the unfortunate incident could have been averted. Apparently, they were fooled to believe that it was a hoax call; and they were fool enough to believe that the bomb in question was fake! By sheer common-sense they should have removed the material even if it was a fake. But they dumped the thing merely two yards away from the place from where it was found. It remained there the whole night – unmanned and unguarded. In the morning of 21st November a group of children found it while they were going to taken their tuition classes in a nearby village. Before they could realize, the bomb exploded and their bodies were blown into pieces. The effect was such that those pieces were thrown in and around a diameter of two hundred yards!
Subsequently, the axe fell on two SHOs. The SHOs of Deo and Dhibra police stations were suspended after the locals came out in large numbers to protest. It is most surprising that two subordinate officers were penalized, whereas their bosses were let off. Didn’t the onus of taking action lie on the seniors if they were there at the spot? Certainly the action taken thus far has been an eye wash. Neither the responsibility has been fixed suitably, nor the families of the victims duly compensated. Let us admit the blatant truth that the local police and civil administration have proved themselves totally incompetent in countering insurgency. Neither are they equipped, nor are they trained to do so. To top it all, they even lack the will to engage with the insurgents.