MAOISTS STRUCK in a big way when they killed 12 security men after they stormed a remote police out-post in Jashpur in north Chhattisgarh and blew up a Naga Armed Police (NAP) patrolling van in Injaram village in Dantewada district of south Bastar, Monday. Nearly 17 security men were seriously injured in both incidents and are fighting for their lives in medical centres in Bilaspur.
According to a police spokesman in the state capital, nearly 500 armed Naxalites carried out a pre-dawn attack by storming Ara police out-post some 27 kilometers from Jashpur, bordering Jharkhand.
The Maoists who carried out the raid between 12 midnight and 3 am, Monday, opened sporadic fire and lobbed bombs, hopelessly outnumbering the 17 policemen in the out-post who fought back in vain. The Naxals managed to kill two policemen and injured eight others seriously. After a fierce gun battle the Maoists overran the outpost and looted rifles and ammunition, before fleeing the area.
The seriously injured policemen were later rushed to State Institute of Medical Sciences (SIMS) at Bilaspur where they are fighting for their lives, it was learnt.
In the second big incident, the Naxalites blew up a Nagaland Armed Police (NAP) van on a search and find mission and killed ten NAP jawans and seriously injured nine others in Injaram village under Bhejji police station, 140 kilometers from Dantewada in south Bastar at around 9 in the morning on Monday. The injured NAP personnel were rushed to the Apollo Hospital in Bilaspur.
{{/usCountry}}In the second big incident, the Naxalites blew up a Nagaland Armed Police (NAP) van on a search and find mission and killed ten NAP jawans and seriously injured nine others in Injaram village under Bhejji police station, 140 kilometers from Dantewada in south Bastar at around 9 in the morning on Monday. The injured NAP personnel were rushed to the Apollo Hospital in Bilaspur.
{{/usCountry}}Senior police officials, including Director General of Police, O P Rathore, ADG (Intelligence) S K Paswan and R P Modi, Advisor to the Home Department have rushed to the spot near Jashpur on learning of the attack.
The police have launched a manhunt to track down the Naxals in the area. The state government is also requisitioning helicopters from the IAF to track down the Naxals, it was learnt.