“We have told the district police repeatedly that the camp at Silda is not located in a safe place. The personnel have been totally misused and ignored by the state government and as a result we lost 24 of them,” EFR’s Special IG Benoy Chakraborty said.

He claimed EFR personnel had killed five of the Maoists during the attack. “Our personnel did not have security and proper infrastructure which a camp of a paramilitary force should have. Despite the inadequacies, our men shot dead five of the Maoists at the camp. I feel proud of them as they fought bravely,” he said.

Chakraborty alleged there was a perennial neglect of the EFR which, according to him, is the finest force in the state. “There are a few rules and regulations for setting up a paramilitary camp in the Maoist-affected areas. But at Silda, the camp was unprofessionally erected in the midst of a marketplace, which is thronged by many people daily. It was extremely difficult for the EFR jawans to function in the area. They have been treated inhumanly by the authorities over the years. Hardly any district police authorities visited the camp before sending EFR jawans into the area,” he said.

“No sympathy was shown towards the EFR personnel. Their role was criticised during the Maoist attack at the camp. On several occasions, we drew the attention of the government and the SP to the state of affairs at EFR camps and its personnel but their grievances were not redressed,” the IG said.