Maoists gun down 17 cops in Maharashtra

A day after the Home Minister P Chidambaram asked Naxalites to abjure violence and discuss their demands; Maoist rebels ambushed a group of 40 police personnel, killing 17 and injuring two in Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra on Thursday. The attack comes just after a couple of days when the rebels beheaded a police officer in Jharkhand. Seventeen cops including a sub-inspector were killed in the gun battle and there are no reports of any causality from Maoists side.