New Delhi: Barely a few months before the Pulwama attack, which claimed the lives of 40 Central Reserve Police Force personnel, an inspector general rank officer in the force raised serious concerns about essential training not being imparted to personnel at its Counter Insurgency and Anti Terrorism (CIAT) school in Chittoor, Andhra Pradesh.
On November 22, 2018, then IG of CIAT School, Chittoor and Gujarat-cadre IPS officer Rajnish Rai had written to the Additional Director General (Training) in CRPF (Training Branch), Delhi, about over-deployment of staff and absence of permanent infrastructure and training facilities at the school.
Incidentally, CIAT schools were envisaged in 2003 following a report by a group of ministers on national security. In 2007, the ministry of home affairs came with a scheme to set up 21 CIAT schools of which three were dedicated to CRPF. Two were set up in Silchar (Assam) and Shivpuri (Madhya Pradesh) while the third at Chittoor was set up in September 2014.
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The aim of these schools was to provide holistic counter-terror training to strategically prepare the personnel to thwart challenges posed by terror – including suicide attacks, the kind witnessed in Pulwama.
In his letter, Rai raised the concern that “no training is being conducted at CIAT School, Chittoor, and therefore, it is necessary to start conducting some training programmes here”. He also posed some questions:
“Why so many CRPF officers/men, including training staff have been posted at CIAT School, Chittoor by the Directorate General, CRPF when adequate training infrastructure/facilities does not exist here?
Why no permanent infrastructure and training facilities have been constructed at CIAT School, Chittoor till date except sanction of construction of one 180 men barrack for which funds have not yet been released?
Despite commissioning of CIAT School, Chittoor for last more than four years, why no counter-insurgency and anti-terrorism (CIAT) training course, which is the mandate of this training institute, has been started at CIAT School, Chittoor?”
‘A failure to use resources effectively’
Rai insisted that the failure to conduct any training program in CIAT School, Chittoor reflected “our failure to use resources effectively and optimally”.
The school was set up in 2014 at the CRPF Avadi campus in Chennai. The following year, it was temporarily shifted to Ambikapur, Chhattisgarh to impart pre-induction (PI) training to Chhattisgarh-based units. Finally, it moved to its permanent location at Chittoor in May 2017.
Why pre-induction training in place of anti-terror?
The CRPF official website confirms that CIAT Chittoor gave pre-induction training when it was located at Ambikapur (Chhattisgarh) between August 2015 and May 2017. Following that, there has been no training and it has only been running courses for buglers, quarter master clerks, and company writers.
Pre-induction training is also quite different from CIAT training. It is theatre-specific familiarisation of troops depending on their geographical locations, whereas CIAT training is designed to meet the functional challenges of fighting insurgency and terrorism.
Their objectives are also different since PI training introduces participants to new operational theatres and provides them perspectives on challenges. CIAT training is essential for understanding geographical and cultural terrain, operational tactics, and the psychological profiles of insurgents/terrorists. It also gives insight on how to deal with insurgents/terrorists in specific contexts.
Wrote about anti-terror training earlier too
Earlier in February 2016, when posted as IGP in Shillong, Rai wrote to ADG (Training) about the resumption of counter insurgency and anti-terrorist training at the school in Silchar.
He pointed out that, “Since September 2015, the counter-insurgency and anti-terrorist training has been totally discontinued at CIAT School, Silchar. This move has diluted the counter-insurgency and antiterrorist training imperatives for which CIAT School, Silchar was established.”
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He had then called for “developing CIAT School, Silchar into a dedicated institutional space for counter-insurgency and anti-terrorist training” to “develop the competencies of CRPF personnel in systematic and coherent ways.”
Rai also said that since CIAT Silchar was very close to army’s Counter-Insurgency and Jungle Warfare School (CIJWS) in Vairengte, Mizoram, where even the US army comes for training, it should “leverage their expertise” in developing focused knowledge about counter-insurgency and anti-terrorist operations.
Lack of training for combating Kashmir situation was also flagged
In November 2017 too, Rai raised similar concerns. He wrote to the authorities:
“I think we should accord utmost priority to how we provide counter-insurgency and anti-terrorism training within CRPF.”
Noting that “we do not offer a single CIAT related course in any of these locations”, he wrote that
“this was all the more surprising since we know very well that CRPF is in the forefront of facing three internal security challenges: terrorism in Kashmir Valley, insurgency in North-East, and left-wing extremism in Central India.”
It has also been pointed out that out of 246 executive battalions in CRPF, more than 50 are deployed in Jammu and Kashmir. As such CRPF is the main central agency fighting extremism there. But it lacks the training to deal with the situation as even the basic syllabus for CIAT training has not been designed or put in place.
Concerns not addressed, officer suspended
A month after he raised these concerns, Rai was suspended by the home ministry for “unauthorised handing over of charge”. Rai had earlier in August applied for voluntary retirement, but his request was turned down. He left service quoting his application and this resulted in his suspension. But the Central Administrative Tribunal stayed the suspension order in January and the matter is now reached the Gujarat high court.
Officer had many run-ins with BJP, Centre
Rai has had several run-ins with the Centre and the BJP.
In 2007, he was the officer who arrested about a dozen police officials, including Gujarat IPS officer D.G. Vanzara in the Sohrabuddin fake encounter case. He subsequently filed an affidavit before the CAT implicating then state home minister Amit Shah and several police officers. This is learnt to have compelled the Narendra Modi government in the state in 2011 to withdraw the adverse remarks in his annual confidential report.
When he was posted as central vigilance officer in the Uranium Corporation of India (UCIL), he pointed out corruption, wastage and lack of adherence to safety norms in the mining and handling of uranium in his report.
The Union home ministry chargesheeted him for acting “without due approval from the competent authority” instead of rectifying the shortcomings. Though the Hyderabad bench of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) stayed the investigation against Rai in September 2017, the Centre is yet to respond in the matter or act on the findings in his damning report.
Rai had also alleged on March 30, 2017 two men were killed in a ‘fake encounter’ by a joint team comprising officials of the CRPF, its jungle warfare unit CoBRA, border guarding force Sashastra Seema Bal, the Assam police and the army. The home ministry subsequently instituted an inquiry.