On the first day of New Year 2008, the suspected terrorists reminded people of India the same old threat and killed seven personnel and one civilian in an attack on a CRPF camp in Uttar Pradesh. According to the report, four terrorists, armed with sophisticated weapons, raided the group centre of the CRPF in Rampur around 3 am in the morning.
Seven CRPF personnel and a local resident were killed while six others injured in the terrorist attack. The terrorists escaped from the spot within minutes after killing them.
The blame game has been started after the terror attack and centre blamed the state government for not taking seriously the warning issued by Home Ministry. The Home Ministry officials reportedly claimed that the intelligence had warned of terrorist attacks on recruitment centres of paramilitary forces.
They further said that the Home Ministry had passed on the intelligence information to central paramilitary forces and the state governments as well to be prepared for required action. Principal Secretary (Home) JN Chamber said the ministry had received the intelligence report about the possible attack on the CRPF in November. In November, the recruitment drive was going on in the camp.
The Rampur camp is an important base for the central forces and it works as the logistics and administrative backbone to the five battalions posted in Jammu and Kashmir and the Northeast region. The Union government has now asked the Uttar Pradesh government to submit a report on the attack.
On the other hand, Uttar Pradesh chief minister also blamed the CRPF for the attack and said the local administration had warned the CRPF centre for possible attack.
She said:
When there was a terrorist threat, the CRPF should have been careful. It happened largely because of carelessness of the CRPF that terrorists entered the camp and killed eight people including seven CRPF personnel.
According to the report, the terrorists were dressed in CRPF uniforms and they lobbed hand grenades in the camp. In the grenade blast, a rickshaw puller, who was sleeping near the main gate, was killed. They opened heavy gunfire and entered the control room and killed personnel present in the room.
When the CRPF personnel retaliated at them, three of the terrorists escaped and one entered the administrative block and killed three unarmed personnel there. Later, because of no light in the camp, he also managed to escape within minutes of killing them.
The terrorist attack in Rampur is being said as a strange incident because it is a clear indication that the terrorists are targeting the administrative centres of the CRPF. The Rampur camp was least guarded camp based in north India.
Mayawati announced a compensation of Rs 1 lakh for the relatives of those who died in the attack on Tuesday morning.
