MUMBAI: A day after Union home minister P Chidambaram appealed for peace, Maoists in Vidarbha launched a massive attack on the state police, killing at least 17 and injuring half a dozen security personnel. One of the most daring attacks on security forces came just four days before the state goes to polls on October 13.
According to the initial information available, a police team of 45 personnel was on patrolling duty near Laheri in the far-flung region of Gadchiroli district when it was ambushed by the Maoists at around 1 pm on Thursday. The incident sparked a gunbattle between the two sides which lasted for more than four hours.
Seventeen policemen, including sub inspector CS Deshmukh, were killed in the ambush by more than 150 Naxals, they said. The Naxals were in police uniform. According to the police, Naxals also suffered some casualties, but the exact number of casualties is not known. Additional security forces have cordoned off the affected region and the combing operation to nab the killers is on.
Police sources said all the dead policemen belonged to Maharashtra’s C-60 anti-Naxal special force. Members of this force, along with the local police, had gone to the spot to take stock of election-related preparations. While returning after the assignment, they were ambushed. The Naxals also attacked the reinforcements, which were sent to aid the police team under siege.
The attack — the second in less than 18 hours, came a day after Mr Chidambaram, in Mumbai, appealed to Maoists to shun violence. “As long as the Maoists believe in armed liberation, we have no choice but to ask security forces to take them on and engage them,” Mr Chidambaram had said.
Earlier in the day, in another incident, a gang of Maoists set fire to Ramgad Panchayat building, reducing all records, furniture and fittings there to cinders. As the terrain is heavily forested, the combing operation will take long, the government sources indicated. The audacious attack comes close on the heels of a senior police inspector in Jharkhand found beheaded by Naxals.
Meanwhile, the Centre on Thursday rushed additional paramilitary forces to Gadchiroli district where 17 policemen were killed in an ambush by the Maoists, to assist the state security forces. “Additional (central) forces are in Maharashtra and they are already on way to assist the state police,” Union home secretary GK Pillai told reporters in New Delhi.
In another related development, a Delhi court on Thursday extended the police remand of Kobad Ghandy, a Politburo member of the banned CPI (Maoist), by seven days to facilitate the investigating agency to gather evidence and unravel the designs of the extremist outfit. In her order, chief metropolitan magistrate Kaveri Baweja allowed 59-year-old Ghandy’s custodial interrogation till October 15.
With a base spanning over 40,000 square kilometres across 20 states, known as India’s Red Corridor, Naxals are repeatedly described as the biggest internal security threat to the country. Among the worst-hit by Maoist violence, Gadchiroli district in eastern Maharashtra is around 180 km away from Nagpur and 1,200 km from Mumbai. The district borders Andhra Pradesh, where the Maoist rebels have a stronghold for a long while.
No comments:
Post a Comment