12 CRPF men killed in Naxal attack

Raipur, March 11

Twelve CRPF personnel were killed and their arms looted when Naxals ambushed their patrol party in the Maoist hotbed of Sukma in Chhattisgarh today.

Four personnel were injured in the attack and two of them were stated to be  critical. The ambush took place in a forested patch near Kottacheru village under Bhejji police station, around 500 km from the state capital, at 9.15 am when 112 personnel of the CRPF's 219th battalion were on a road opening duty.

“This is the biggest attack by Naxals on security forces this year. It is estimated that a hundred-plus Maoist squad was present in the area when the ambush was launched. These are preliminary inputs,” a senior Chhattisgarh official said.

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The Bhejji area in the south Bastar region of the state is notorious for Naxal attacks and many security personnel have been killed here in the past. Naxals looted 10 weapons, including six INSAS rifles, four AK-47s, a light machine gun, 1,587 bullet rounds, an under-barrel grenade launcher, a 51mm mortar, two para bombs and two radio sets from the killed men, officials said. “The troops were part of the road-clearing party that has been securing an under-construction road between Bhejji and Kottacheru. They were ambushed by Naxals who set off multiple hidden IEDs and also opened fire. The squad effectively retaliated before 12 made the supreme sacrifice,” acting CRPF DG Sudeep Lakhtakia said.

The Maoists are trying to disrupt normal life and activities in the area as the Central Reserve Police Force has increased its presence here and got re-opened a local ‘haat’ (market) last year here after it was forcibly shut by the red ultras.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi took stock of the situation. He tweeted: “Saddened by the killing of CRPF personnel in Sukma. Tributes to the martyrs and condolences to their families. May the injured recover quickly!”

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh has condemned the Maoist attack and described it as a “cowardly act”. Security personnel have laid down their lives to free Bastar from violence and Maoist terror. Their sacrifice will not go in vain. “I salute their sacrifice,” the CM said, adding ultras were frustrated with development of road network in the region. 

The injured have been air lifted and brought to the CRPF field hospital in Bheji and few others have been transferred to Raipur. A special counter-Naxal team of CoBRA has been rushed to the ambush spot as reinforcement to sanitise the area . — PTI