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Journalism of Courage
Three Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) personnel assigned to protect Salwa Judum camps in Dantewada were killed in a Naxal attack near Geedam,on NH 16 connecting Bijapur to Jagdalpur today.
A convoy of about 15 vehicles was passing through the forests of Banjarin Ghats around 9.30 am when there was a landmine blast,killing the SSB men in the fourth vehicle. After the blast,Naxals opened fire.
The dead include Constables Dileep Chakroli (Kerala) Vivek Kumar (Bihar) and Dharmeshwar Nath (Assam). Praveen Kumar from Bihar was injured.
Following the closure of Salwa Judum camps,SSB teams have begun returning from Dantewada and todays was the last contingent on its way out.
We suspect the involvement of Barsoor LGS (local guerrilla squad), Dantewada SP Ankit Garg told The Indian Express,naming a newly formed unit.
We found pamphlets that said the attack was in revenge of the July encounter with Naxals, Bastar SP Ratan Lal Dangi said.
The SSB has worked extremely well in protecting Salwa Judum camps in the region. They were returning after their task was over. There is a tendency among Naxals to attack a returning party and inflict injury, ADG (Naxal) Ramnivas said.
