216 CRPF men killed by Maoists

A total of 216 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were killed and 305 injured in anti-Maoist operations from 2009 to March 5 this year, Minister of State for Home Jitentra Singh said Wednesday.

Singh told the Rajya Sabha that the number killed in 2009 was 58. This rose to 132 in 2010 but fell sharply to 26 in 2011. The numbers injured in the three years were 111, 80 and 113 respectively.

According to Singh, only one CRPF trooper was injured till March 5, 2012.

“No specific instance of intelligence failure has come to notice behind the killing of CRPF personnel. The casualties among CRPF personnel can be attributed to IED explosions, hostile and inhospitable terrain, dense forests, surprise attacks by the CPI (Maoist),” said Singh.