Raipur, July 12: In a fresh wave of violence in Chhattisgarh, 30 police personnel including a Superintendent of Police were killed on Sunday in ambushes and landmine attacks by Maoists in three separate incidents in Rajnandgaon.
In one of the worst Maoist attacks in the state, Rajnandgaon SP Vinod Kumar Choubey was killed when he was leading police reinforcements for Madanwada, where the Naxals had killed two policemen in the morning, after being ambushed between Khoregaon and Karkoti village, according to the Deputy Inspector General of Police (Naxal) Pawan Dev.
Rajnandgaon is about 90 km from Raipur.
The Maoist-triggered violence, which has already claimed 148 lives in Chhattisgarh this year, occurred at Madanwada, Khoregaon area and Sitagaon under Manpur police station.
After the SP’s team was ambushed, there was intense firing and in the gunbattle Choubey and 23 other policemen lost their lives, Dev said.
In a separate attack, the Naxalites set off landmines and ambushed another team of policemen which had left Sitagaon for Madanwada after getting news of the morning’s attack in Madagaon. Four policemen were killed in this incident, the DIG said.
The Station House Officer (SHO) of the Madanpara police station area, near the ambush site, was also killed in the attack, official sources said.
Dev said the two jawans who were killed at Madanwada had left their camp for ablutions in the morning when they were targeted by the ultras.
The DIG said DGP Vishwaranjan and senior police officials have rushed to the spot.
The bodies of the policemen are being brought by helicopter to the Manpur police station and the SP’s body has been sent to Rajnandgaon.
CRPF rushed
The CRPF rushed 600 of its men to the site of attacks.
The troops, belonging to Rajnandgaon-based 188th battalion of the force and equipped with mine detection kits and rescue equipment, were rushed to the spot to start combing operations against the banned Maoists militants.
“A battalion strength (around 1,000 men) of the force is being sent to the spot for starting combing operations and sanitising the area. Six companies (comprising 600 men) have been sent initially,” a senior CRPF officer said.
Additional reinforcements and communication equipment will also be sent as the CRPF troops will set up a temporary camp there, the sources added.
Security forces in helicopters were scouring the area to hunt for the rebels and looking for the bodies of the policemen, sources said.
Meanwhile, the state unit of Congress demanded imposition of President’s rule in Chhattisgarh for the alleged failure of the BJP government to tackle the Maoist menace.
It may be noted that earlier this week the Centre said that there was no proposal to hold direct talks with Naxals but it would welcome such a dialogue between the Left wing extremists and any state government.
“There is no proposal for the Central government to hold talks directly with the Left wing extremists,” Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Ajay Maken said in Rajya Sabha.
-Agencies