Continuing to unleash violence in Chhattisgarh, Maoist guerrilas ambushed a convoy of a police party and killed 8 cops and injured ten others in an encounter that took place in Dhamtari district, about 150 km from the state capital Raipur. As many eight policemen are still missing.
The Naxal attack took place late on Sunday in the remote Risgaon-Mandgiri hilly terrain of Dhamtari, which is the first ever in the area by the rebels.
Confirming the incident to Hindustan Times, the Deputy Inspector General of police (Intelligence) Pawan Deo said that on the basis of intelligence inputs about the presence of Maoist rebels in the area, the Kanker police party was rushed to the area. "Perhaps it was tactical mistake in execution that led to the casualty", said Deo.
The three critically injured jawans were air-lifted to Raipur and admitted in a private nursing home for emergency medical treatment.
Eight jawans who were part of 41-member convoy are missing. "Additional forces have been rushed to the area. Inspector General of Police (Bastar) and Superintendents of police Kanker and Dhamtari are camping there", said Deo. According to him over 100 Naxalites were involved in the attack.
This is second major attack by the Naxalites in the last five days. On May 6 the Naxal killed 11 persons in Dantewada. The rebels shot dead 4 including 2 Special Police Officers (SPOs) on May 9 in Bijapur.