A braveheart Assistant Commandant of the CoBRA Battalion of the CRPF lost legs below the knee after being amputated post-pressure IED blast by Naxals in Gaya district of Bihar.
Timely evacuation of the injured official could have minimised or averted the damage to his limbs, officials said.
The injured officer Bibhor Kumar Singh and Head Constable Surendra Kumar Yadav were rushed to Anugrah Narayan Medical College Hospital (ANMCH), Gaya where the treating doctors advised their immediate airlifting to the national capital for better treatment. However, the late arrival of the chopper from Jharkhand and fog reportedly resulted in the amputation of both the limbs of the officer, officials said.
An IED blast incident occurred about 1 km west of Kariba Dobha in Chakrabandha forest area of Gaya at around PM in which IED blast followed by firing opened by the Naxals resulted in grievous injuries to Singh and Yadav.
Both the limbs of Singh had to be amputated below the knees due to the severe injuries suffered by the CRPF officer in the pressure IED blast.
Veterans said lack of timely and proper evacuation of injured personnel is highly demoralizing for the personnel. The Naxal threat being a long-term threat, elaborate evacuation plans should be in place and helicopters should be on standby at the nearest airfield around major Naxal theatres, they said.
The CRPF being the largest Paramilitary Force in the world with operational strength of 3.25 lakh is the lead Armed force of Union of India under MHA designated for anti-Naxal, counter-terrorist and anti-insurgency
operations.
“Ad hoc policies of the CRPF have been taking a toll on the lives and limbs of the personnel injured in action. A long term prospective plan and dedicated air wing is the need of the hour to both strengthen operations through quick mobilization of personnel and timely evacuation of injured men,” a veteran said.
A coordinated operation was launched earlier this month by CRPF and it was ongoing in the Chakrabandha forest and the CPI (Maoist) is observing Bhumkal Divas and TCOC (Tactical Counter Offensive Campaign).
The TCOC of the CPI (Maoist) has commenced with intention to avenge their recent losses. According to the input received from agencies, the armed CPI (Maoists) are presently camping in jungles of Gaya district in Bihar.
Bibhor Kumar Singh is a 49th batch of Directly Appointed Gazetted Officer in CRPF. After passing out from the CRPF Academy in 2019-20 the young and dynamic officer Singh himself opted for hard area posting in CRPF special force called the Jungle Warrior CoBRA. His bravery and gallant action led to the safe evacuation of his troops from the operation zone. As per the CRPF input naxals have also reportedly suffered the losses.
