Latehar, February 02: Three policemen, including an assistant sub-inspector, were on Wednesday killed and two others injured when Maoists attacked their jeep near Chetag village in Latehar district of Jharkhand.
“Maoists first triggered a landmine blast and opened fire on the police jeep, killing three policemen and wounding two others,” Director General of Police G S Rath said.
One of them was an ASI of the district police, he said. The injured were referred to Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences in Ranchi where the condition of one of the injured was serious, he said.
The encounter broke out at Chetag, about 2.5 km from Balumath police station, when Maoists challenged the police who were on their way to Dhadu village near the National Highway to investigate a case, he added.
Latehar Superintendent of Police Kranti Kumar said that he had sent a chowkidar to Dhadu when the police got information that a person allegedly committed suicide.
“I asked the chowkidar to go there, but the ASI and other policemen went along,” he said.
This was the third attack on the police by Maoists in two months.
On December 3 they attacked Independent MP Inder Singh Namdhari’s convoy, killing ten policemen and a child. The MP, who escaped the attack unharmed was returning to Medininagar from Latehar when the incident took place.
On January 21, Maoist guerrillas blew up an anti-landmine vehicle, killing 13 police personnel in neighbouring Garhwa district.
The police have stepped up anti-Maoist operations in Latehar, Garhwa and Palamau districts. They found a huge quantity of explosives and destroyed two bunkers in Garhwa and Latehar yesterday.
–PTI