W Bengal police, their shame.

Ambushed, cops refuse to move without CRPF

PINGBONI (BANKURA): What will happen when paramilitary forces leave Lalgarh? TOI had a glimpse of this on Saturday when a police contingent heavily armed but without the protection of central forces was ambushed at Pingboni, 16 km from Lalgarh.

Rattled by the attack, many constables have reportedly refused to carry out any operation without central forces accompanying them.

In the two-hour-long encounter, police struggled to see the attackers, some 500-700 yards away, because the 500-strong force did not have a single binocular. They borrowed the Times of India photographer's camera to use the tele-lens to check on the attackers' weapons and movements. What's worse, when six of them were hit and lay injured, police had no vehicle to take them to hospital. They borrowed the TOI car.

The battle spot is located 2 km from Goaltore on the way to Ramgarh via Kantashole. It marks the beginning of the Maoist stronghold in Bankura and extends to West Midnapore, where the battle for Lalgarh is currently under way.

A contingent of state police and Eastern Frontier Rifles (EFR) jawans led by Burdwan additional SP Humayun Kabir stopped at the nearly deserted Pingboni village at 3.45 pm after spotting movement behind some embankments on the fields. The same unit had passed that very spot on Friday. But instead of setting up base and engaging with villagers, they left after roughing up some youths and smashing a few shops. The withdrawal gave the Maoists ample time to regroup and take position for Saturday's ambush.

As the policemen waited, assessing the threat, they saw mobs charging towards them from either side of the road around 4 pm.

As Maoist mobs charged towards the police contingent at Pingboni, some of the cops rushed forward with lathis, only to scatter as arrows were shot at them. Suddenly, a deafening explosion ripped through. One of the policemen had apparently tripped a booby trap an IED rigged to a tree. That was the signal for the Maoists to open fire. It was 4.15 pm. Dazed from the blast, the policemen now faced a hail of bullets and arrows.

An SI and three constables lay injured in the blast. The attack took the force completely by surprise. Policemen scrambled behind every possible cover and started returning fire with INSAS and AK-47s. TOI was the only media team present during the encounter.

Sixty to 80 Maoists had taken up vantage positions along embankments and atop roofs of deserted houses. Initially, the insurgents fired indiscriminately, but the exchange became more focused after police took up position away from the line of fire.

Though a helicopter was summoned to make an aerial assessment of the situation, it wasn't of much help because darkness was approaching. The firing petered off around 6 pm. Two more policemen were injured in the gunbattle. They were all taken to Goaltore police station in the TOI car.

The Burdwan additional SP claimed his men had shot dead at least six Maoists. The body of a known Trinamool Congress supporter Gobinda Daw was later found in the area. He had been shot but it wasn't known by whom.

This is the condition of once famous police force.
They have been trained by the Marxist to only take action on defenceless people and connive with the party cadres to murder opposition workers.
At the first sin of problem, they are flabbergasted.
It is packed with people to espouse their cause.
Efficiency was put on the back-burner.