Hindustan Times (Bathinda)

Maoists kill 25 CRPF jawans

SUKMA AGAIN In the worst attack on force in 7 years, 300 Maoists ambush personnel; PM condemns cowardly act

- Ritesh Mishra and S Karimuddin letters@hindustant­imes.com n

RAIPUR/JAGDALPUR: Suspected Maoist militants killed 25 paramilita­ry personnel and injured six in Chhattisga­rh’s south Sukma region on Monday, police said, in an ambush possibly to thwart a crucial road link the government believes would break the back of the insurgent group.

The midday attack, which occurred between the Burkapal Chintagufa area in the Maoist hotbed of Bastar, is the worst in seven years. In 2010, rebels killed 75 CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force) troopers in the same region.

Monday’s victims were part of a 99-strong team providing security to workers building the road.

“Security forces will move with ease in the area after this road is built and this is troubling the Maoists. We are entering their core through this road,” said DM Awasthi, special director general of police (antiMaoist operations).

Survivors of the attack said about 300 militants waylaid them, firing with rifles from hilltops. Senior police officers said the security party was having lunch when they were attacked.

“First Naxals sent villagers to trace our location, then almost 300 Naxals attacked us. We also fired and killed many,” news agency ANI quoted CRPF constable Sher Mohammed as saying.

The security personnel were evacuated by air force choppers and a rescue team. The deceased were from the 74th battalion of the CRPF and included an inspector-rank officer.

Fatal attacks by Maoists on security forces were once frequent, and the government says the success of recent security operations against them have frustrated the rebels. Still, Monday’s attack demonstrat­ed the vulnerabil­ity of the government forces in an insurgency that former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh once called India’s biggest internal security challenge.

The rebels say they are fighting for the rights of tribal people and landless farmers, and want to overthrow the government to establish a more egalitaria­n society.

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