Day after polling, Maoists kill cop in Gadchiroli

A day after polling was held in Left wing extremism-hit Gadchiroli in Maharashtra, a policeman was killed and five others were injured after a group of suspected Maoists indiscriminately fired on a police party in the southern part of the district bordering Andhra Pradesh.

A day after polling was held in Left wing extremism-hit Gadchiroli in Maharashtra, a policeman was killed and five others were injured after a group of suspected Maoists indiscriminately fired on a police party in the southern part of the district bordering Andhra Pradesh.

The incident took place near the Asagaon area on Friday when a company of C-60, an elite anti-Maoist squad, was returning with a polling party.

"The armed rebels opened fire on the police party indiscriminately in which a policeman was killed on the spot while five others were injured. The deceased has been identified as Giridhar Nago Atram from C-Commando party," said Ravindra Karam, the inspector general of police (Nagpur range).

The C-60 jawans returned fire and the encounter continued for over half an hour before the attackers fled the scene.

The district administration handed over a cheque of Rs 20, 00,000 to the family of Atram as per the state Election Commission's directive.

The five injured jawans were airlifted and taken to a private nursing home at Nagpur for treatment. Two of them sustained critical injuries.

No major incident of violence was reported in Gadchiroli on the polling day.