Naxals killed CRPF men with horrifying brutality

According to the preliminary post-mortem reports the jawans were brutally killed by the Maoists and around three to four bullet wounds were found on all the 27 CRPF personnel bodies.

"The Naxalites shot dead the CRPF personnel from a distance and later, they slit open the throats of three and smashed heads of two other jawans," a top police official told PTI.

The bodies of the CRPF personnel were airlifted from the thick forests of Dhodawyee to the state capital's Dr B R Ambedkar hospital for conducting post-mortem.

While the CRPF personnel foiled the Maoists move of attempting to loot the armory, 27 jawans were killed, he said, adding "police believe that around 15 Naxalites were killed in the cross-firing".

A large number of heavily-armed Maoists, perched on a hilltop, had opened fire with automatic weapons on a 63-member security contingent which was returning on foot from road opening duty on Wednesday.

The dead included a CRPF Assistant Commandant Jatin Gulati.