Naxals kill six Bastar policemen

“Naxals first staged a false attack on the rest house and then trapped the patrol party,” Home Minister Nanki Ram Kanwar told The Indian Express.

Bastar SP Ratan Lal Dangi said,“Around 200 Naxals began firing on the police team and then exploded an IED.” The police fired in retaliation and the encounter continued for nearly an hour.

“While five men died of bullet injuries,one died in the blast. The nature of the IED is being ascertained,” Dangi said,adding that two policemen were still missing.

According to Kanwar,the attack was well planned. The Naxals first damaged the forest rest house,knowing that the police would visit the area in the interior of Bastar,surrounded by forests.

The dead policemen have been identified as Darbha thana in-charge Mahindra Dhruv and constables Chaitram Thakur,Nilesh Thakur,Umesh Thakur,Umesh Kunjam and Narendra Sahu. Dhurva,said the police,had been on the hit-list of Naxals for long.

According to local media reports,the force could not communicate with the headquarters and the injured remained stranded for hours. They were first noticed by local reporters,who informed the authorities and provided them immediate medical help. Three injured men have been shifted to Jagdalpur hospital.

The attack,third major one on security forces in the past two months,took place on Police Shaheed Divas,marking a sudden spurt in Naxal activities.

The ambush,once again,was on a returning team of security forces. A fortnight ago,Naxals had ambushed a Seema Suraksha Bal convoy that was returning from its Salwa Judum duty in Bastar. On August 19,Naxals had attacked a police team of Bhadrakali station returning after carrying ration from the neighbouring station of Bhopalpatnam.

While during the August attack,the police team was moving in an open tractor,on Friday they were on bikes — in a dense forest region. “Strategically,bike is safer than a four-wheeler. It has greater mobility and can move in narrow lanes,” Dangi said.