The Dharba Valley Maoist attack in Chhattisgarh continues to fox security and intelligence agencies on many counts, but mostly on why Naxals resorted to this unprecedented step. The 4-page statement issued by the Naxals yesterday owning responsibility of killings, hides more than it reveals. Experts feel, even three days after the massacre, that the entire operation is intriguing. Ajit Doval, a former director of Intelligence Bureau said, “The Naxal operation looks more like a calibrated political game and creates suspicions.”

Some of the bit of the puzzle:

1. The state government said on Tuesday that the route taken by Congress leaders to return to  Jagdalpur from Sukma was not changed at all.

2. In a secret report to the governor and the home ministry, the state government admitted that no anti-land mine vehicle accompanied the Congress convoy to clear land mines if any.

3. Even the Road Opening Police Patrol which gave the green signal to the  convoy to move, was 45 minutes ahead rather than 10 minutes in violation of the drill.

4. The 25 car convoy had 35 PSOs without any retaliatory power. There were hardly any escort police vans. The date, venue of Sukma was well-publicised and everything was at per schedule and convoy left Sukma at 2.30 pm;

5. It was a 4-hour long ambush; Naxal had a free run and were unchallenged; even the police patrol did not care to check whether the  Congress convoy is following it or not.

6. There was no intelligence failure as Naxals had issued a public written warning in Dandakaranya on May 2 itself in writing, that it would kill  leaders if they got involved in political activity in Bastar. Raman Singh did not require an IB warning to protect Congress leaders.

7. Naxals did not indulge in indiscriminate firing and selected their targets with precision. They didn’t want to kill Nand Kishore Patel and his son initially but perhaps later decided to kill them. What and who influenced the decision?

8. Lukma, another sitting Congress MLA from Bastar region considered close Ajit Jogi was allowed to run away after being taken to the hill top.

9. Ajit Jogi and Charan Das Mahant should thanks their stars as Jogi chose helicopter to return to Raipur and Mahant came back to Delhi by flight.

10. A careful reading of the People's Liberation Guerrilla Army’s 4-page statement is more critical of the Congress than of the Raman Singh government. Why? Particularly, when the Congress had gone soft on Naxals for the past two years and even abandoned the Operation Green Hunt?