<p class="title">A journalist of national broadcaster Doordarshan, who survived a Maoist strike in Chhattisgarh's Dantewada district Tuesday, said the sound of bullets and grenades continued for 45 minutes after the attack as he lay in a ditch on the roadside.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The DD scribe, Dhiraj Kumar, told PTI the horrific incident would never fade from his memory.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Kumar was lucky to have survived the attack, but his cameraperson Achytanand Sahu (30) lost his life.<br /><br />Along with lighting assistant Mormukut Sharma (35), they had recently arrived in the state for the coverage of the next month's assembly polls.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Police said the attack took place near Nilawaya village, around 450 km from state capital Raipur. Over half a dozen districts, including Dantewada, are affected by Left-wing extremism in the state.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"We were in Dantewada for the last two days. We were informed that a polling station had been set up in Nilawaya where people haven't voted from the past 20 years following which we decided to go there on Tuesday," he said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Kumar, who has been working with DD since 2009, said they were heading to the village along with police personnel on around eight motorcycles.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Ahead of Nilawaya at about 10 am, Sahu was recording visuals on the road. Meanwhile, police personnel removed a Maoist poster put up on a tree branch. Sahu, who was making its visuals, suddenly fell on the ground," he said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Kumar said initially he thought Sahu had some problem, but then moments later he realised that his colleague was bleeding.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Suddenly, heavy firing started from forest on the left side of the road," the 37-year-old said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">A native of Bihar's Begusarai district, Kumar said their motorcycle lost balance. "Fortunately, I fell and rolled in a ditch by the road. My lighting assistant Sharma also crawled towards me," he said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"For the next 45 minutes, I just heard sounds of bullets and grenades. There were about 200 Naxals. Some grenades fell near us, but thank God they did not explode," he said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"We were lucky that Dantewada Superintendent of Police Abhishek Pallav along with reinforcement reached there in a short span of time and pushed Naxals deep into the forest," he said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Kumar said the incident had shocked DD reporters who were on assignment in other poll-bound states and they had decided to return to Delhi.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Neither do we have social security, nor any insurance. Who will look after our families if we die? All the reporters (of Doordarshan) who have been deputed in poll-bound states from Delhi have decided to return to the national capital," he said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Kumar and Sharma will reach here Wednesday.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Sahu and two policemen, Sub-Inspector Rudra Pratap Singh and Assistant Constable Manglu, were killed and two other security personnel injured when Maoists attacked them near Nilawaya under Aranpur police station limits.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Deputy Inspector General (Anti-Naxal Operations) Sundarraj P told PTI the incident took place when a squad of local police was carrying out patrolling on motorcycles from Sameli camp towards Nilawaya.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The Naxalites have called upon voters to boycott the Assembly polls in the state, which has 90 seats.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The first phase of polls covering 18 constituencies of eight Naxal-affected districts Bastar, Kanker Sukma, Bijapur, Dantewada, Narayanpur, Kondagaon and Rajnandgaon will be held on November 12.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The remaining 72 constituencies will witness polling on November 20. The counting of votes will be held on December 11.</p>
<p class="title">A journalist of national broadcaster Doordarshan, who survived a Maoist strike in Chhattisgarh's Dantewada district Tuesday, said the sound of bullets and grenades continued for 45 minutes after the attack as he lay in a ditch on the roadside.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The DD scribe, Dhiraj Kumar, told PTI the horrific incident would never fade from his memory.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Kumar was lucky to have survived the attack, but his cameraperson Achytanand Sahu (30) lost his life.<br /><br />Along with lighting assistant Mormukut Sharma (35), they had recently arrived in the state for the coverage of the next month's assembly polls.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Police said the attack took place near Nilawaya village, around 450 km from state capital Raipur. Over half a dozen districts, including Dantewada, are affected by Left-wing extremism in the state.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"We were in Dantewada for the last two days. We were informed that a polling station had been set up in Nilawaya where people haven't voted from the past 20 years following which we decided to go there on Tuesday," he said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Kumar, who has been working with DD since 2009, said they were heading to the village along with police personnel on around eight motorcycles.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Ahead of Nilawaya at about 10 am, Sahu was recording visuals on the road. Meanwhile, police personnel removed a Maoist poster put up on a tree branch. Sahu, who was making its visuals, suddenly fell on the ground," he said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Kumar said initially he thought Sahu had some problem, but then moments later he realised that his colleague was bleeding.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Suddenly, heavy firing started from forest on the left side of the road," the 37-year-old said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">A native of Bihar's Begusarai district, Kumar said their motorcycle lost balance. "Fortunately, I fell and rolled in a ditch by the road. My lighting assistant Sharma also crawled towards me," he said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"For the next 45 minutes, I just heard sounds of bullets and grenades. There were about 200 Naxals. Some grenades fell near us, but thank God they did not explode," he said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"We were lucky that Dantewada Superintendent of Police Abhishek Pallav along with reinforcement reached there in a short span of time and pushed Naxals deep into the forest," he said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Kumar said the incident had shocked DD reporters who were on assignment in other poll-bound states and they had decided to return to Delhi.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Neither do we have social security, nor any insurance. Who will look after our families if we die? All the reporters (of Doordarshan) who have been deputed in poll-bound states from Delhi have decided to return to the national capital," he said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Kumar and Sharma will reach here Wednesday.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Sahu and two policemen, Sub-Inspector Rudra Pratap Singh and Assistant Constable Manglu, were killed and two other security personnel injured when Maoists attacked them near Nilawaya under Aranpur police station limits.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Deputy Inspector General (Anti-Naxal Operations) Sundarraj P told PTI the incident took place when a squad of local police was carrying out patrolling on motorcycles from Sameli camp towards Nilawaya.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The Naxalites have called upon voters to boycott the Assembly polls in the state, which has 90 seats.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The first phase of polls covering 18 constituencies of eight Naxal-affected districts Bastar, Kanker Sukma, Bijapur, Dantewada, Narayanpur, Kondagaon and Rajnandgaon will be held on November 12.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The remaining 72 constituencies will witness polling on November 20. The counting of votes will be held on December 11.</p>