Bodies of 24 CRPF troopers brought to Delhi

Bodies of 24 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) troopers, killed in a Maoist ambush on Tuesday, were brought to the national capital on Wednesday evening.

Bodies of 24 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) troopers, killed in a Maoist ambush on Tuesday, were brought to the national capital on Wednesday evening.

HT Image

An Indian Air Force transport aircraft, carrying the bodies, landed at Delhi's Palam air station at 5.15 pm. Draped in the tri-colour, 24 coffins were taken out from the AN-32 aircraft.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhariyal and senior officers of the CRPF laid wreaths as tribute to those who died in the Maoist attack.

The bodies of the victims were then dispatched to their native places in trucks. The slain troopers belonged to western Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Haryana.

"Seven more bodies will be brought to the national capital late evening (Wednesday) in another aircraft," a senior officer said.

At least 75 CRPF soldiers and a Chhattisgarh policeman were massacred by left wing rebels in the dense forests of Dantewada Tuesday. The attack is the deadliest by the Maoists in the four-decade-old insurgency.