Chhattisgarh: Naxals kill 12 cops,civilian

In their fifth attack in a fortnight,Maoist guerrillas ambushed a 41-member team of security personnel and later opened indiscriminate fire at them....

In their fifth attack in a fortnight,Maoist guerrillas ambushed a 41-member team of security personnel and later opened indiscriminate fire at them,killing 12 policemen and a civilian and injuring 16 others between Risgaon and Madapoti villages in the Mandagiri hill ranges in Dhamtari district,Chhattisgarh,on Sunday night.

The incident occurred when the Kanker District Force DF personnel were returning in four vehicles after a routine search in the area. Initially,the insurgents triggered multiple landmine blasts and later opened fire at the security personnel,before looting weapons from them.

Eleven policemen,a Special Police Officer and a civilian driver are among the dead. As many as 16 policemen were injured and seven of the seriously injured were airlifted to the state Capital and were admitted to a private hospital there, Deputy Inspector General of Police anti-Naxalite operations Pawan Deo said.

The dead have been identified as Yeshwant Sahu,Hemant Som,Rajesh Gunendra,Dharmendra Sahu,Santosh Netam,Toman Bhatti,Amit Netam,Radheshyam Nagwanshi,Kaushal Tiwari,Mahendra Sahu,Aswan Uike,SPO Chandrahas Netam and driver Bhaskar Sahu.

Reinforcements of security forces could carry out search-and-rescue operations only after daybreak on Monday in view of the possibility of another ambush. Three vehicles in which the security personnel were travelling were damaged in the blasts,said reports.

While this is the first incident of Naxalite violence in Dhamtari district,police sources in Nagari Sihawa said the Maoist rebels had suddenly become active in the region,particularly after Sitanadi wildlife sanctuary was notified as a tiger reserve. Six months ago,the villagers from the area affected by the tiger project had organised a massive rally at Nagari Sihawa town,protesting against inclusion of their villages in the reserve area.

Apparently capitalising on the situation,the Maoist rebels came closer to the locals and were supposed to organise a rally near Risgaon, police sources said,adding they dropped their plan following information that a team of security personnel was carrying out a search in the area.

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Over the last fortnight,there has been a sudden spurt in Naxalite violence in the state. On May 6,the Naxalites killed 11 people,including seven securitymen in Bastar,and a day later,a police station in-charge was stabbed to death in public view at a market in Bastar.

In the first week of May,Naxalites killed two BJP leaders in Rajnandgaon. In the Bastar division,19 people lost their lives in the last nine days in Naxalite-related incidents.