2 min readAmitabh Sinha & Debabrata Mohantynew Delhi,bhubaneswarApr 15, 2009 02:03 AM IST
First published on: Apr 15, 2009 at 02:03 AM IST
Hours before Naxalites raided the NALCO bauxite mine in Koraput in Orissa and killed 11 CISF men security forces combing the area have come across five bodies of Naxalites,one with bombs strapped to the waist,nabbed four and recovered over 500 kg of explosives and looted arms from an abandoned van a helicopter carrying CRPF Director General A S Gill was fired at by Naxalites in Chhattisgarh.
The incident occurred on Sunday morning in Dantewada as Gill and other officials were landing in a village. The state government helicopter was fired at but no damage was caused and it landed safely. Gills visit to Chhattisgarh followed Fridays Naxal attack in which nine CRPF personnel,including a Deputy Commandant,were killed.
Naxalites have carried out three back-to-back attacks in Jharkhand,Chhattisgarh and Orissa in the last few days,killing CRPF and CISF personnel. One of the three Naxalites killed in Chhattisgarh was carrying an AK-47 rifle which is usually issued to top commanders. The three killed were said to be from Andhra Pradesh.
Meanwhile,Orissa police and CISF will jointly probe the Naxalite raid on the NALCO mine in Damanjodi in Koraput where 200 armed cadres tried to loot CISF weapons and industrial explosives stacked there. The CISF unit put up a brave fight,losing 11 men in the process. The CISF men who died in the firefight were AK Sharma,AC Pradhan,Basirat Singh,Sarabjit Singh,DK Singh,Dasarathi Singh,P Apanna,Nalini Kumar,Barun Parmanik,KP Singhal and B Majhi. Two seriously injured jawans have been sent to a hospital in Visakhapatnam.
Orissa DGP Manmohan Praharaj said the joint probe will look into the security set-up at Damanjodi. Using two helicopters,CRPF and SOG jawans were dropped in the Panchpatmali hills for a combing operation. With the Naxalites trying to enter Andhra Pradesh via the Narayanpatna forest route,the Greyhounds,Andhras anti-Naxal force,has been asked to help out.
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