Team News Riveting
Raipur, March 16
The report of a single-member judicial commission that probed the Madanwada Maoist ambush in Chhattisgarh’s Rajnandgaon district has pointed finger at senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Mukesh Gupta.
On July 12, 2009, twenty-nine police personnel, including then Superintendent of Police Vinod Kumar Choubey (IPS) were killed in three separate Maoist strikes in Madanwada and nearby places in Rajnandgaon. This was the first Maoist attack in Chhattisgarh in which an IPS officer was martyred.
Gupta was then Inspector General of Police (IGP) of Durg range. The commission found that the incident was a result of ‘command’ failure that led to a heavy casualty on the security forces.
Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Wednesday tabled the 109-page report of the Judicial Commission headed by Justice (retired) Shambhunath Srivastava of Allahabad High Court.
The report said, “had the commander/ the IG (Gupta) acted wisely or courageously, the result would have been different. But whatever he did was nothing but an act of cowardice, because he had sufficient time to call units of Central Reserve Police Force and Chhattisgarh Armed Force (CAF) to use them (in the face off).
The report said the IG pushed the SP to take on the Maoists while he was seated inside the bullet-proof car and did nothing…”
“If he (the IG) had shown courage, the Maoists would not have looted the arms, bullet proof jackets and boots of the martyred personnel…Naxals had sent the video footage of their celebration after executing the incident which is part of the evidence records. It clearly highlights several instances of carelessness and negligence on the part of commander, Mukesh Gupta (IG Durg), in whose presence the entire massacre took place between 9.30 am to 5.15 pm,” the report said.
The 1988-batch IPS officer had been under suspension after an FIR was lodged in 2019 against him for alleged criminal conspiracy and illegal phone tapping during a probe in a civil supply corporation scam unearthed in 2015.
