Denying he ever advised Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on anti-Naxal operations, former National Security Advisor and West Bengal Governor M K Narayanan today met the jawans of Eastern Frontier Rifles (EFR) personnel and their family members at Salua in Kharagpur and said being a former policeman himself, he had come here in a “spirit of atonement”.

The state paramilitary force lost 24 of its jawans on February 15 when heavily armed Maoists swooped on its Silda camp to launch a deadly attack.

In a brief interaction with the media after meeting the bereaved family members of the slain EFR personnel, the Governor said: “I am here not to do an assessment of the situation. There is no effort on our part to do an assessment. But whatever I have seen and understood, I will pass it on to the chief minister and other ministers. Our main aim is to avoid similar tragedy.”

Narayanan dismissed reports he was advising the government on anti-Maoist operations in the state. “I have not given any advice to the government on the anti-Maoist operation. But I had discussion with the chief minister on the issue,” he said.

“I have come here to meet the families of the slain jawans. This is a heart-wrenching moment. It is a matter of poignancy and it has to be addressed with a spirit of atonement,” said Narayanan, adding the

family members of the deceased jawans have reasonable demands.