Sabita Das, sister of paramilitary trooper Dhrubajyoti Das who was killed in Tuesday’s rebel attack, grieves at his cremation in Guwahati on Thursday. (AP)

New Delhi, July 1: The Centre and the Chhattisgarh government today reached a “consensus” on P. Chidambaram’s proposal for a “tactical” retreat by shifting the CRPF from hardcore Maoist areas.

However, the purported agreement did not prevent the Chhattisgarh police chief from snapping at the Centre a little over 48 hours after the massacre of 27 CRPF jawans on Tuesday.

“We cannot teach the paramilitary personnel how to walk,” Chhattisgarh DGP Vishwa Ranjan told a television channel in an apparent reference to Union home minister Chidambaram’s statement yesterday that the state government redeploy the CRPF in Naxalite-hit areas.

“If the CRPF is being repeatedly ambushed, are we to answer for that? What does responsibility mean? Responsibility means making available whatever facilities possible. Responsibility means we together deploy the forces. Responsibility does not mean we will teach them how to walk,” the DGP said.

However, government sources in Delhi said it had earlier been agreed that the paramilitary force would be shifted from “hardcore” areas in Jharkhand, which has six CRPF battalions.

Officials clarified that a shift did not mean a pullout. Rather, the CRPF will be kept away from routine duties in “hardcore” areas where the Centre wants state forces to take a more proactive role.

Sources in the home ministry said a “consensus” had been reached with the Raman Singh government that the force, ill-trained for anti-Maoist operations, should not be further “exposed” to attacks.

A ministry official said the CRPF could not fight the Maoists by exposing itself and, at times, a force needed to withdraw to fight another day.

Sources said the decision on the tactical retreat followed discussions between Raman Singh and home ministry officials. Others who were present included D.R.S. Chaudhary, additional secretary, Naxalite management, in the ministry; Kashmir Singh, joint secretary in the same division; and Vikram Srivastava, director-general of the CRPF.

The tactical changes will also be raised with chief ministers of other Maoist-affected states like Orissa and Bengal. The sources said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was expected to invite chief ministers of seven states for a Cabinet Committee on Security meeting “before July 10”.

While Bengal has five CRPF battalions to fight Maoists, Orissa has four. With 14 battalions, Chhattisgarh has the highest deployment of CRPF personnel.

Chidambaram had yesterday said the paramilitary force had to be deployed only if there was a specific operational or development objective. The CRPF men ambushed on Tuesday were part of a road-opening party.

Ministry officials said the deployment of the force in Chhattisgarh after October 2009 followed consultations with the Centre. But the deployments before that were not discussed with the Union government. It is these deployments before October 2009 that are being looked at now.

The CRPF has moved to strengthen its apparatus, posting four inspectors-general (operations) in four states — Pankaj Singh in Bengal, Nageshwar Rao in Orissa, M.P. Nathanael in Jharkhand and A. Ponnuswamy in Chhattisgarh.

The force also blamed lack of co-ordination with state police for the heavy casualties it has suffered. Home ministry sources, however, insisted that the differences with Chhattisgarh had been “resolved”.