59 Indian para military commandos in transit desert the force in one go

New Delhi, February 6 (The New Indian Express): In what clearly reflects badly on the top leadership of the Indian Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) led by outgoing Director General K Durga Prasad, 59 trained commandos of the elite anti-Naxal Force Combat Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA) had deserted the paramilitary force en masse earlier this month.

This is the first mass desertion of highly trained commandos from the world’s biggest paramilitary that is designated the lead counter-insurgency and anti-terrorist force.

The desertion took place on February 2, while they were en route to Gaya (Bihar) for deployment with the 205 CoBRA Battalion. .

The CRPF on Sunday (February 5) concluded that they have deserted and the message has been circulated to all the formations of the paramilitary in the country.

“Following 59 Constables of Counter Guerilla team of this battalion who were coming back from RTC (Recruit Training Centre), Srinagar after completion of their basic training under command No. 095000498 HC/GD Vijay Singh became deserter from the train,” reads the communication circulated to all the CRPF formations through the internal communication network of CRPF dated February 5.

“According to HC/GD (Head Constable/General Duty or Operational Duty) Vijay Singh, he along with these Constables were boarded Train No. 13152 Jammu Siyaldah Express from Jammu Railway Station for Gaya Junction on 02/02/2017 at about 1855 hrs. On the way of Gaya, these Constables deserted from the train without the permission of competent authority,” the internal communication further said.

Sources said the deserters badly hit Head Constable Vijay Singh who was escorting them to Gaya before fleeing. The deserters also left behind their trunks. According to inputs with the CRPF, the commandos fled from Mughalsarai (Uttar Pradesh) Railway Station.

While the Basic Training Course entails nine months of training at the RTC, these commandos were trained for six months as they had earlier served in the field.

An official from RTC, Srinagar confirmed the development but sought to downplay the incident saying it was more of an emotional issue as they wished to visit their native place since they were stranded in Srinagar for about a week due snowfall after their training was complete. The official also hoped that they will return in the next few days even as the deserters remain untraceable.

“It is all happening due to lack of regimentation in the CRPF. Media never talks about the command problems being faced by officers and their welfare…Media is concerned with shortage of officers in Army only as they are ignorant about Central paramilitary forces,” another official said on condition of anonymity.

CRPF DG K Durga Prasad did not respond to messages from the Express.

Here is the list of deserters:

Manish Kumar
2. Nagendra Kumar
3. Satyendra Kumar
4. Mukesh Kumar
5. Ajay Kumar
6. Ravish Kumar
7. Sandeep Kumar
8. Ranjeet Kumar
9. Subhash Kumar
10. Lalu Kumar
11. Navin Kumar
12. Alok Abhishek
13. Satyendra Kumar
14. Amit Kumar
15. Vimlesh Kumar
16. Digamber Singh
17. Prakash Mandal
18. Chandan Kumar
19. Manish Kumar
20. Sanjeet Kumar
21. Avishek Kumar
22. Jitender Kumar
23. Gauri Shankar Kr
24. Vivek Kumar
25. Santosh Kr. Gupta
26. Sonu Kumar Singh
27. Raj Kishore Kumar
28. Raj Kumar Rai
29. Om Prakash Yadav
30. Prakash Chand
31. Jitender Kumar
32. Guddu Kumar
33. Sunil Kumar Sharma
34. Prem Kumar
35. Gd Prince Kr. Vidyarathi
36. Sanjay Yadav
37. Rakesh Kr
38. Raju Kumar
39. Pramod Kumar
40. Pradeep Kumar
41. Rakesh Kumar
42. Deepak Kumar
43. Sunil Kumar
44. Ajit Kr
45. Md. Ijaz Ahmed Ansari
46. Mithun Kr Goswami
47. Pawan Kumar
48. Manjeet Kumar
49. Kamlesh Kumar
50. Ravishankar Kr.
51. Jai Kishore
52. Mantu Kumar
53. Jitender Kumar
54. Anil Kumar
55. Satish Kr Choudary
56. Alok Kr Bharti
57. Ranvir Singh
58. Rupesh Kumar
59. Dharmendra Kumar