Cameraman survives ambush

Sharma thought he was going to die and recorded ‘last video’

Mother. I love you. It is possible I will die in this attack,” Doordarshan cameraman M.M. Sharma said over his mobile phone as Maoists ambushed a team of policemen and Doordarshan journalists. But he had a miraculous escape.

The assistant cameraman was with two other colleagues and a police patrol when they were attacked by Maoists in Chhattisgarh’s Dantewada district on Tuesday. As bullets whizzed overhead and grenades exploded around him, a shaken Sharma dived for cover.

He whipped out his mobile phone and recorded a video message for his mother, which he thought would be his last.

‘Not feeling scared’

Yesterday, Sharma released the transcript of the message, punctuated by gunfire and exploding grenades as a large group of Maoists surrounded them in a lonely stretch.

“There has been a terrorist attack. We had come to Dantewada for election coverage. We were travelling by road ... The army was with us. Suddenly, Maoists surrounded us ...,” he said.

“I do not know why but I am not feeling scared even after staring at death. It will be hard to escape. Six or seven jawans [soldiers] are with us. We are surrounded from all sides,” said Sharma, speaking haltingly in Hindi.

Although he survived, two policemen were killed on the spot while his cameraman colleague Achyuta Nanda Sahu was seriously injured and later died at a hospital. A third policeman died yesterday.