Maoists in school uniform kill cop

About half-a-dozen suspected Maoists, wearing school uniforms, hacked a police constable and injured an assistant sub inspector (ASI) at a weekly market at Dantewada in Chhattisgarh on Saturday, officials said here.

The incident took place in Kuakonda market in the district and the Maoists fled with a rifle and a wireless set.

Constable Gautam Pandey, 45, who was admitted to hospital after he was attacked with an axe, succumbed to injuries. ASI Satyawadi Sahu, 35, who intervened to protect Pandey, was attacked with a knife and is recovering in hospital. All the Maoists fled in the melee that ensued the attack. The policemen were deployed to ensure security at the weekly market.

Officials said the Maoists were carrying “lungis” with them so that they could change as and when required.

In another incident, suspected Maoists also set on fire some equipment, including a machine used in road works, under Kuakonda police station limit.

The Maoists, who were carrying bows and arrows, also warned labourers and contractor not to carry out any work there. A hunt has been launched to trace them.

In Chhattisgarh, which is going to Assembly polls on November 11 and 19, security forces have been put on high alert to avert any Moist attack. The ultras are also gearing up to boycott the Assembly elections, sources said.

Security forces have recovered some documents from the Maoist-hit Bijapur district after an encounter with the ultras, which revealed that the Gangalur Area Committee of the Communist Party of India (Maoist) had organised a meeting in this regard.

The government has said that the incidents of Maoist violence have gone down. 

"The Left Wing violence level has been declining since 2010. The number of incidents has declined from 2,213 (with 1,005 resultant deaths) in 2010 to 1,415 incidents (with 415 resultant deaths) in 2012. In the current year (up to August), there has been a 27.48 per cent reduction in the number of incidents (with 14.10 per cent reduction in resultant deaths) in comparison to the corresponding period of 2012,” Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde has said.