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The tragic loss of 22 policemen in a Naxalite ambush in the jungles of Chhattisgarh on 4 April invoked memories of earlier such incidents with the worst being the loss of 76 lives in Dantewada in 2010. As part of an old pattern, political and institutional homilies followed promises of revenge. One can be fairly certain that the matter will be officially investigated, and a politically patronised cover-up carried out, with only the lower-level officials facing the brunt. Life will continue as before, till another incident comes along, and the cycle will be repeated ad nauseam. The police leadership will continue to promise solutions to politicians as long as their numbers are increased, and going by the recent raising of CRPF battalions, financial constraints do not seem to come in the way of pumping up numbers. If only somebody educated India’s politicians that the qualitative inadequacies in the CRPF cannot be made good by numbers.