Top cop misses Naxal bullets by a whisker in Gadchiroli

Sunil Ramanand, deputy inspector general (DIG) of anti-naxal operations (ANO) missed the bullets fired by a woman naxalite – that killed two Combat Battalions for Resolute Action (Cobra) and one policeman – by a whisker on Saturday. Shailendra Mohan reports.

Sunil Ramanand, deputy inspector general (DIG) of anti-naxal operations (ANO) missed the bullets fired by a woman naxalite – that killed two Combat Battalions for Resolute Action (Cobra) and one policeman – by a whisker on Saturday.

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On Saturday, around 250 naxals fired at a police patrol party moving from Potegaon to Makadchuha at 9.30am. “A head constable of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) was injured in the firing while two naxals were hit in police’s counter action,” said a highly-placed source adding that the naxals dragged away the two bodies with them.

On hearing the news of encounter, Ramanand rushed to site in a chopper. Sources said that Ramanand then led the encounter and encircled a field where one of the naxals, a woman named Raneeta, was hiding. “While the others had fled, Raneeta was hiding in the field,” the source added.

“The bullets fired by Raneeta killed Cobra commandos Chandrashekhar Kore and Rashid Ahmed. The two were standing very close to Ramanand,” said the source adding that Ramanand was lucky to have escaped death.

Playing down the incident, Ramanand said: “They were a few feet away from us. Seeing them, we adjusted our positions.” He said that the police party had been attacked by Chadegaon and Makadchuha dalam.

Ramanand said that the security men got civilians to clear the field and then attacked Raneeta, who was killed in the encounter.