12 CRPF men killed in Maoist attack

Twelve CRPF personnel were on Saturday killed and their arms looted when Maoists ambushed their patrol party at  Sukma in Chhattisgarh.

Four personnel were also injured in the attack and two of them were stated to be critical.

The incident occurred in the dense forests near Kottacheru village under Bhejji police station, around 450 km away from the state capital, at 9.15 am when 112 personnel of the CRPF’s 219th battalion were out for a road opening task.

The Bhejji area in south Bastar region of the state is notorious for Maoist attacks and many security personnel have been killed here in the past.

The Maoists also looted 10 weapons like INSAS and AK series assault rifles and two radio sets from the killed men, officials said.

“The troops were part of the road clearing party that has been securing an underconstruction road between Bhejji and Kottacheru. They were ambushed by Maoists who set off multiple hidden IEDs on the ground and opened fire. The squad effectively retaliated before twelve made the supreme sacrifice,” acting CRPF DG Sudeep Lakhtakia said.

He added that Maoists are trying to disrupt normal life and activities in this area as the CRPF has increased its presence here and got reopened a local ‘haat’ (market) last year here after it was forcibly shut by the ultras.

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh has strongly condemned the Maoist attack and described it as a ‘cowardly act’.The deceased CRPF personnel have been identified as Inspector Jagjit Singh, Assistant sub-inspectors H B Bhatt and Narender Kumar Singh, Head Constables Jagdish Prasad Vishnoi and P R Minde and Constables Mangesh Pal Pandey, Rampal Singh Yadav, Goraknath, Nand Kumar Patra.