70 CRPF men killed in Chhattisgarh

Some 70 policemen, mostly the CRPF men were killed as a combing party of the Chhattisgarh police was ambushed when it was on its way back after completing its operations near Markam Nala in Chintaguppa police station limits of Dantewada district in the early hours on Tuesday. The police sources, which confirmed the incident, said that the Maoist triggered two land mines targeting the bullet-proof vehicles carrying the jawans. They said that the casualties might go up further.


Some police personnel were reported missing after the incident. About 1000 members, including the Maoist dalam members and their sympathiser — mainly the Sangam activists, took part in the operation. This is considered to be a major blow for security forces engaging in fighting the Maoists in Chhattisgarh after the Ranibodili incident in the neighbouring Bijapur district couple of years ago.

PTI adds:

CRPF personnel, who were killed on Tuesday in a major Naxal attack, include a deputy and an assitant commandant and a head constable of the district police force.

The bodies of the personnel, who were part of a 80-member CRPF and a district police team, have been recovered from the site of the attack, police spokesman and Inspector-General R K Vij said.

Eight of the injured CRPF men have been evacuated for treatment from the forest area, he said.

“The CRPF men were in the forests for operational duty when the Naxals attacked. It is very tragic and sad,” CRPF Director-General Vikram Srivastava told PTI.

Expressing shock over the brutal attack, Home Minister P. Chidambaram said something must have gone “drastically wrong.”

“The casualty is very high and I am deeply shocked at the loss of lives....This shows the savage nature of CPI (Maoist) and the brutality and the savagery they are capable of,” he said.

CRPF Special Director-General Vijay Raman, who is also the commander of the Anti-Naxal Task Force, is on the way to the area. Additional reinforcement have already been sent and search operations are on in the area.

Official sources said the attack took place when the CRPF unit belonging to the 62 RPT 62 Battalion entered the forest for an operation between six and seven am and were ambushed by the Maoists.

Helicopters have been pressed into service to evacuate the injured and bring back the bodies, Chhattisgarh Director-General of Police Viswa Ranjan said.

The attack comes two days after Maoists triggered a landmine blast in Orissa’s Koraput district, killing 11 security personnel of the elite anti-Naxal Special Operations Group.

On February 15, 24 personnel of Eastern Frontier Rifles were killed in a Maoist attack on their camp in West Bengal’s West Midnapore district.

The CRPF party was taken aback by the sudden attack by the Maoists, who surfaced on a hillock firing indiscriminately and setting off Improvised Explosive Devices (IED).

Dantewada Superintendent of Police Amresh Mishra told PTI that the Naxals blew up a vehicle carrying the CRPF personnel.

The incident took place near Chintalnar-Tarmetla village in the district. The CRPF team had been camping in interiors of Tarmetla jungles for the last three days as part of a combing operation, Mr. Mishra said.