Probe panel to fix responsibility for Maoist massacre: Chidambaram

NEW DELHI - Home Minister P. Chidambaram Monday said an inquiry committee probing the killing of 76 security personnel by Maoists in Chhattisgarh will fix responsibility at all levels, from the troop commander to the home ministry.

“(E.N.) Rammohan has promised me that he will give the report by the 24th or 25th of this month. He will do a thorough inquiry… he will examine the postmortem reports… the forensic evidence. I have requested him to fix responsibility from the assistant commandant right upto the minister in the ministry of home affairs,” Chidambaram told Rajya Sabha Monday.

Maoists killed 75 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) troopers and a Chhattisgarh policeman in Dantewada April 6 in the worst ever attack on security forces.

E.N. Rammohan, former Border Security Force chief and a veteran of anti-insurgency operations in Jammu and Kashmir and the northeast, was appointed to probe the incident.

“I said please fix responsibility (on) who failed in his or her duty at every level… let him fix the responsibility where this failure took place… as soon as the report is prepared, we will draw conclusion. And I am sure there will be an opportunity to share the conclusions in the house,” he said.

“Until then I request that we suspend judgement… let the report come and surely action will be taken,” Chidambaram added.