9 cops dead in this years biggest Naxal hit in Cgarh

In the biggest Naxal attack this year in Chhattisgarh,nine state police personnel and a civilian were killed when over 100 Maoists ambushed a police team near Metlacheru village in Bijapur district.

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In the biggest Naxal attack this year in Chhattisgarh,nine state police personnel and a civilian were killed when over 100 Maoists ambushed a police team near Metlacheru village in Bijapur district this afternoon.

The attack came days after Chief Minister Raman Singh had announced creation of nine more districts in the state to improve administration and tackle the Naxal problem.

According to ADG (Naxal) Ramnivas,the police party was going from Bhadrakali village to Bhopalpatnam after collecting rations when the Naxals first attacked them around 3.45 pm. The police repulsed the attack after an exchange of fire lasting an hour.

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The police party then moved ahead,with some of them on a tractor carrying the rations. Some kilometres ahead,another group of Naxals ambushed the tractor and killed the nine jawans sitting on it as well as the civilian truck driver. Naxals also looted some weapons.

The area where the policemen were killed borders Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra and is covered with dense forests,with river Indravati flowing through the region.

Our nine men and a civilian have been killed. Our team claimed they killed around five Naxals but we have not recovered any body so far. The operation is still on, Bijapur SP Rajendra Narayana Das told The Indian Express.

A senior officer regretted that the deaths were due to laxity. The police team had successfully repelled the Naxals at the first instance. There was no need for policemen to sit on a tractor,espcially in such hostile terrain, he told The Indian Express.

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The deceased are Constables Deoraj,Rajendra Singh,Rajesh Patel,Sehlu Ram Bhagat,Harish Prasad,Mangal Bhavan,Gend Lal Gawde,Rajkumar Karketu; SPO Basant Khursham; and civilian Khursham Samaiya.