As many as 15 commandos and their driver were killed in Maharashtra's Gadchiroli after their vehicle was blown up by Maoists on Wednesday, 1 May.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi condemned the attack and called it “despicable.” He also said the perpetrators will not be spared. Condolences for the families poured in from all sides.
The Opposition attacked the Modi government for the security lapse. Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala tweeted that the attacks “expose hollow claims by Modi government of securing India.”
Who is responsible for the attack? Why have the governments failed to solve the problem? Asked Twitterati.
There were also mentions of ‘urban naxals’, ‘tukde tukde gang’ and ‘Lutyens media’.
One Twitter user sarcastically said why is Modi, Rajnath, Fadnavis, Doval or IB being held responsible instead of the ones who aren’t even remotely related to the incident.
One Twitter user asked the PM to first do a ‘surgical strike’ in Naxal affected areas before thinking about Pakistan.
Former diplomat Mani Shankar Aiyer asked Modi to take responsibility before taking credit for anything.
Shortly after the news broke, #MaafiMaangoModi began trending on Twitter. The Opposition and other Twitter users put out tweets asking the PM to apologise for the security lapse.
The Congress spokesperson said, “the biggest farce was when Modi said demonetisation would end Naxal attacks”.
This is the second Maoist attack since the Lok Sabha elections began.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)