Maoists kill two CISF men in Chhattisgarh

Two Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) constables were killed early Sunday in a firefight with Maoist guerrillas near an iron ore mine in Chhattisgarh's Dantewada district, police said.

Armed rebels opened fire at a CISF post in Akash Nagar, close to iron ore deposit number five in Bailadila hills of Dantewada, about 420 km from here.

"It was a well-planned attack on the hilltop CISF post. Maoists took advantage of the morning fog to fire several rounds. While head constable P.N. Chatterjee was killed on the spot, constable K.R. Arjun died of bullet injuries later in hospital," a police official told IANS.

Police said that within 20 minutes of the attack, about 50 CISF men from a nearby barrack were rushed to the spot, but the rebels managed to escape with an AK-47 and a self-loading rifle of the killed CISF personnel.

A search is on in the area to nab the rebels.
Dantewada district is part of the restive Bastar region where Maoists run a de-facto government in remote areas since the late 1980s.