<p>A Station House Officer (SHO) and four police jawans were on Friday killed and three others injured, one of them critically, in a Maoist ambush in Maoist-hit Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh, police said.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Maoists also torched vehicles of the police personnel and looted their weapons before fleeing the spot, they said.<br /><br />The incident took place when a police patrol party headed by SHO Kuwakonda, Vivek Shukla was on its way to Shyamgiri Hills for security of an under-construction road near Kuwakonda-Bacheli (located around 450 km from Raipur),” Additional Director General of Police (Naxal Operation) R K Vij told PTI.<br /><br />The patrol team comprising 12 police personnel was moving on six motorcycles in Shyamagiri hills region, which lies around 5 km from Kuwakonda police station, when about 100 armed rebels opened indiscriminate fire on them, resulting in the death of Sub-Inspector rank state police official Shukla and four other policemen on the spot, Vij said.<br /><br />The other martyrs were identified as Chhavilal Kashi, Sandeep Sahu, Dhaneshwar Mandavi, Navalkishore Shandiya (all constables), the ADG said.<br /><br />The injured — constable Pushpendra Kumar, assistant constable Pardeshi Ram and constable Bhagirathi Mandavi — were being airlifted to Raipur for treatment, Vij said.<br />Four other police personnel have returned to their fold safely. Before fleeing from the spot, the Maoists set ablaze three motorcycles and looted one AK-47, two SLR and an Insas rifle from the policemen, he said.<br /><br />Soon after getting the news of the attack, reinforcement was rushed to the spot. As per initial information, 6-7 personnel were killed in the incident, the ADG said.<br />However, when additional forces reached the spot they confirmed five deaths while a jawan Lachhuram Bhogami who was reported missing, later reached the police station safely, he added.<br /><br />Security forces were pressed into an intense search operation in the region to trace the attackers, he added.<br /><br />Chief Minister Raman Singh has condemned the attack and expressed grief over the martyred policemen.<br /></p>
<p>A Station House Officer (SHO) and four police jawans were on Friday killed and three others injured, one of them critically, in a Maoist ambush in Maoist-hit Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh, police said.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Maoists also torched vehicles of the police personnel and looted their weapons before fleeing the spot, they said.<br /><br />The incident took place when a police patrol party headed by SHO Kuwakonda, Vivek Shukla was on its way to Shyamgiri Hills for security of an under-construction road near Kuwakonda-Bacheli (located around 450 km from Raipur),” Additional Director General of Police (Naxal Operation) R K Vij told PTI.<br /><br />The patrol team comprising 12 police personnel was moving on six motorcycles in Shyamagiri hills region, which lies around 5 km from Kuwakonda police station, when about 100 armed rebels opened indiscriminate fire on them, resulting in the death of Sub-Inspector rank state police official Shukla and four other policemen on the spot, Vij said.<br /><br />The other martyrs were identified as Chhavilal Kashi, Sandeep Sahu, Dhaneshwar Mandavi, Navalkishore Shandiya (all constables), the ADG said.<br /><br />The injured — constable Pushpendra Kumar, assistant constable Pardeshi Ram and constable Bhagirathi Mandavi — were being airlifted to Raipur for treatment, Vij said.<br />Four other police personnel have returned to their fold safely. Before fleeing from the spot, the Maoists set ablaze three motorcycles and looted one AK-47, two SLR and an Insas rifle from the policemen, he said.<br /><br />Soon after getting the news of the attack, reinforcement was rushed to the spot. As per initial information, 6-7 personnel were killed in the incident, the ADG said.<br />However, when additional forces reached the spot they confirmed five deaths while a jawan Lachhuram Bhogami who was reported missing, later reached the police station safely, he added.<br /><br />Security forces were pressed into an intense search operation in the region to trace the attackers, he added.<br /><br />Chief Minister Raman Singh has condemned the attack and expressed grief over the martyred policemen.<br /></p>