Naxals chop off cop146;s hand

A constable of the Mizo battalion was critically injured when Maoist rebels chopped off his hand, axed another security personnel and looted two AK-47 assault rifles from them at Gadiras weekly market in Naxalite infested Dantewara district on Sunday.

District Superintendent of Police Rahul Sharma said the incident took place in the morning when two constables got separated from other security personnel during patrol duty at the weekly market. Soon, the Naxalites attacked them with an axe, chopping off a hand of constable Piyang. The extremists then fled with their weapons.

Both the injured constables were rushed to the Primary Health Centre at Gadiras from where the critically injured constable was airlifted by a state government helicopter to Raipur. Sharma said the constable was undergoing treatment at a private hospital, while the other was out of danger.

Earlier this week, the Naxalites had ambushed a team of security personnel in the district, killing a head constable of the state police and three Special Police Officers SPOs. However, five other SPOs had escaped unhurt in the attack.