A search operation was underway on Sunday to trace 18 security personnel who went missing after a fierce gun-battle with Naxals in a forest along the border of Bijapur-Sukma districts in Chhattisgarh, police said.
Chalapathi, a top leader of the CPI(Maoist) and a key figure in the 2008 Nayagarh armoury attack in Odisha, was killed in a gunfight with security forces at the Odisha-Chhattisgarh border. He was one of 14 Maoists killed in the encounter, which lasted for two days. Chalapathi, who had been a mystery to security agencies for decades, was eventually identified through a selfie with his wife, Aruna, found in an abandoned smartphone. He was considered an expert in military tactics and guerrilla warfare and had played a significant role in expanding the Maoist network in Odisha.
State Home Minister Tamradhwaj Sahu said that in 2013-14, the state had received Rs 50 crore for police modernisation from the Centre. The allocation has come down to Rs 20 crore right now.
Uppal, 43, was detained last week in that country and the ED authorities are in touch with the Dubai authorities to get him deported to India, they said.
Since the number of well-trained policemen were only 24 and put before about 700 armed Naxals, it was nothing but a 'kind of butchering'.
In the first phase covering 20 of the total 90 assembly seats, 223 candidates, including 25 women, are in the fray and as per electoral rolls, 40,78,681 voters are eligible to exercise their franchise.
One of the deceased was identified as Cherla local organisation squad commander Rajesh while the identity of the other was being ascertained, the police added.
"It happens in a crowd, and the old and women face difficulties," Singh told reporters in Raipur when his attention was drawn to reports of police kicking an aged man on his face and caning villagers in Ajaib Nagar, 525 km from Raipur.
Four more persons, including a teacher, were arrested Tuesday in connection with the rape of minor inmates of a government-run residential school for tribal girls at Jhaliyamari village in Kanker district of Chhattisgarh, police said.
Three jawans of the Chhattisgarh police were killed and four others injured on Friday in an ambush set up by Naxals in Bastar district, a senior police official said in Raipur. Bastar Superintendent of Police Ratan Lal Dangi told PTI over the phone that the incident took place near Netanar village on Friday morning. The police team, from Darbha station, was heading for the village after receiving a report that Naxals had vandalised a guest house of the forest department.
Heads rolled in the Chhattisgarh police administration on Tuesday with the government suspending Bastar Superintendent of Police Mayank Shrivasta and shunting out Bastar range Inspector General of Police Himanshu Gupta, in the wake of the Maoist attack on Congress leaders.
The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) has announced the formation of a special CoBRA battalion for counter-terrorist operations in Jammu and Kashmir. This decision comes 17 years after the jungle warfare unit was established to combat Naxal insurgency. The new battalion, directed by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, will be deployed in forested areas of Jammu and Kashmir, including the Jammu region, where recent terrorist incidents have occurred. CoBRA units are known for their specialized jungle warfare and guerilla tactics training, and the new battalion will be equipped with modern weaponry, communication, and surveillance equipment.
Police stations along the Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh border have also been put on high alert after yesterday's incident and combing operations have been increased, he said.
Talking to reporters in Bilaspur town of the state, he also accused the saffron party of trying to take political advantage of last week's communal violence in Biranpur village of Bemetara district.
The accused, a contractor by profession, was absconding since the murder of journalist Mukesh Chandrakar came to light on January 3, he said.
All the 10 people travelling in the Bolero died in the accident, while those in the bus suffered minor injuries, the DCP said.
The body of Kaka Arjun (52) was found on Wednesday evening on Kongupalli-Ilmidi road in Bijapur, located more than 400 km from state capital Raipur, they said.
Vimala Chandra Sidam alias Tarakka, a top Naxal leader with a Rs 25 lakh reward on her head, surrendered before Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in Gadchiroli along with ten other senior Maoists. Tarakka, who joined the Naxal movement in 1986, rose through the ranks over 38 years to become a Dandkaranya Special Zonal Committee member. She is the wife of Central Committee Member Sonu alias Bhupati. The surrendered Naxals, eight women and three men, were collectively carrying a bounty of Rs 1.03 crore. Fadnavis also felicitated C 60 personnel for the July 17, 2024 encounter wherein 12 hardcore Maoists were killed in a forested area bordering Chhattisgarh.
The explosive, however, remained "undetected" during the demining exercise conducted a day before the attack on Wednesday, they said.
Akash Kanojia, a driver from Thane, was detained by the Railway Protection Force (RPF) in Durg, Chhattisgarh, as a suspect in the attack on actor Saif Ali Khan. After the real attacker was arrested, Kanojia was released but claims the police's actions have "ruined" his life, causing him mental trauma, job loss, and a broken engagement. He says he wants justice for the ordeal.
Narayanpur district Superintendent of Police (SP) Sadanand Kumar was attacked during the protest that took place in the afternoon and was being treated at a hospital, an official said.
He, however, cited the sensitivity of information due to the ongoing probe into the matter to decline to share more details, sources said.
A tale of terror, courage, and humanity -- one father's desperate escape, a mother's sacrifice, and Kashmiris who saved lives.
Two policemen were killed and 16 injured, two of them seriously, in a landmine blast and ambush by naxalites in Rajnandgaon district of Chhattisgarh, police said Monday.
As many as 22 teams of C-60 commandos and two squads of the Central Reserve Police Force under the supervision of senior officials launched an anti-Naxal operation from two different points in the forest area, said the release.
Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan has received a death threat and a demand for Rs 50 lakh, Mumbai police said on Thursday, adding an extortion case has been filed in this connection.
Baghel along with some supporters was in Noida for a door-to-door campaign in support of Congress' Pankhuri Pathak when the alleged violations took place.
An IndiGo flight carrying 187 passengers and six crew members made an emergency landing at Raipur airport on Thursday morning after a bomb threat was received. The aircraft, which had taken off from Nagpur for Kolkata, was diverted to Raipur after airport authorities received the threat. The plane landed at the airport in Chhattisgarh capital Raipur after 9 am and was immediately taken to the isolation bay for mandatory security checks. The aircraft is being thoroughly checked by the technical staff and bomb squad.
An African footballer was found dead on railway tracks on the Mumbai-Howrah route in Janjgir-Champa district of Chhattisgarh, police said.
The administration has introduced 'Maidan Cup' in collaboration with the Mann Deshi Foundation and Sachin Tendulkar Foundation, under which 50 playgrounds will be developed in Dantewada to boost sports culture and talent.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday conducted raids at over a dozen locations in Chhattisgarh including at premises linked to state Congress leaders as part of an ongoing probe into the alleged coal levy scam, officials said.
The Supreme Court of India expressed its disappointment and concern after a man was denied the right to bury his Christian father in a Chhattisgarh village, despite the presence of a designated burial area for Christians in the village graveyard. The man, Ramesh Baghel, had to approach the Supreme Court after the Chhattisgarh High Court dismissed his plea, citing concerns about potential unrest. The court criticized the high court's decision and the lack of action by local authorities in resolving the issue, noting that the body had remained in the morgue since January 7th. The case highlights a growing concern about religious intolerance and the need for greater sensitivity and respect for diverse communities in India.
The lawyer told the police that he lost his phone a week before and had filed a police complaint, the official said.
'Many of them are mutilated beyond recognition. Every day an encounter takes place.' 'Bastar has been burnt to ash.'
The Andhra Pradesh police have arrested a suspected Naxal leader identified as Savita alias Madhvi in Khammam district of the state.
The government on Monday announced service medals for 954 police personnel of various central and state forces on the eve of Independence Day.
16 weapons, including 315 bore and 12 bore guns, were recovered from the spot.
The decision was taken at a Cabinet meeting on Saturday chaired by Chief Minister Raman Singh at the Secretariat, state's Revenue Minister Prem Prakash Pandey said.
The knife allegedly used by a housekeeping staffer to kill a 24-year-old flight attendant has been recovered along with the clothes he was wearing at the time of the crime in suburban Andheri four days ago, the police said on Wednesday.
The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) has been awarded the highest number of police gallantry medals, 21, including two Shaurya Chakras, on the eve of Republic Day. A total of 95 bravery medals were awarded to personnel from state and central police forces, fire service, home guard, civil defence, and correctional services. The CRPF's medals included 11 for operations in Jammu and Kashmir, seven for anti-Maoist operations, and one for an operation in the northeast. The second-highest number of medals went to Uttar Pradesh (17), followed by Jammu and Kashmir (15), Chhattisgarh (11), and the Border Security Force (5).
