A major tragedy was averted after two Naxal-planted landmines carrying 50 and 25 kg explosives were unearthed from a national highway in Dantewada on Monday, barely days after an IED blast left eight CRPF personnel dead in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district.
Inspector general of police, Bastar Range, Sundarraj P said that bodies of seven Maoist cadres have been recovered from the encounter site so far.
Three Naxalites, including a woman, carrying a reward of Rs 12 lakh, were killed in an encounter with security personnel in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district. The encounter took place in Gondiguda, and a large cache of arms and explosives were recovered.
Former Border Security Force director general E N Rammohan, appointed to inquire into the circumstances leading to the massacre of 76 security personnel by Naxals in Chhattisgarh's Dantewada district, has begun his probe.
With this incident, 154 Naxalites have been gunned down by the security forces in different encounters in Chhattisgarh so far this year, the police said.
'The biggest game changer has been the belief among Maoists that they can surrender and join the mainstream'
As many as 14 Maoists were killed in an encounter with security personnel in Chhattisgarh's Bastar region on Friday, a senior police official said. However, ANI has put the toll at 30.
Suspected Naxals on Tuesday shot dead a 25-year-old trainee police constable in a crowded market place at Bhansi town in Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh, the police said.
The skirmish took place in the wee hours in the restive Dabba-Kunna hills when the joint team of the CRPF and STF was out on an anti-Maoist operation.
Police have also recovered a GPS device of Naxals from the site in which the rebels had set the location of the improvised explosive device used in the incident.
Seven CRPF men were killed on Wednesday and their weapons looted after Naxals carried out a deadly landmine blast on their vehicle in the jungles of the worst Naxal-affected Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh.
In a fresh offensive against Naxals, security forces killed at least 30 members of the banned CPI-Maoists in two separate encounters in Chhattisgarh's Bastar region on Thursday, officials said.
A cache of weapons, including an AK-47 rifle, one SLR (self-loading rifle), one INSAS rifle, one LMG rifle and one .303 rifle were also recovered from the encounter spot.
Seven Naxals were killed and a policeman sustained serious injuries in an encounter in Chhattisgarh's Dantewada district on Tuesday.Security forces gunned down seven Naxals in the jungles of Tetemdagu village, nearly 18 kms from Kistaram town, in the district, Dantewada Superintendent of Police Amresh Kumar Mishra said, adding that a policeman was also seriously injured in the ambush.
Three Naxals, including a woman, were killed in a police encounter in the jungles of Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh on Thursday, police said.
Four civilians were killed when suspected Maoists blew up a truck in a landmine blast in Chhattisgarh's Dantewada district on Sunday, said the police. Moaists blew up the truck near Keralapal village in the district, killing all the four persons traveling in the vehicle on the spot, Superintendent of Police (Dantewada) Amresh Singh said. The truck had left Doranapal village in the district for Sukama with the truck's owner Surya Narayan Raju and three labourers.
In a major breakthrough, the Chhattisgarh police have arrested six persons, including self-styled Naxal commander Barsa Lakhma, who were allegedly involved in the gunning down of 76 security personnel in Dantewada in April."We have arrested six people, including Lakhma, on Sunday night from Morpali," said Superintendent of Police Amresh Mishra.The six were allegedly involved in the killing of 75 CRPF personnel and one state police constable on April 6.
In the first operation of its kind in a long time, the Chhattisgarh state police, the Special Task Force and the Central Reserve Police Force launched a combined offensive against Naxalites in the forests spanning two highly Naxal-infested districts to register their first major success in many months.
Altogether seven firearms have been recovered from the encounter site, he said.
The explosion took place in a hilly area in Bacheli in Dantewada when the personnel were returning to their camp after purchasing groceries from market.
Police personnel checked vehicles and conducted flag marches at various places in Punjab on Wednesday while central forces maintained a tight vigil in Tripura.
The DD scribe, Dhiraj Kumar said the horrific incident would never fade from his memory.
The face-off between a compact team of District Reserve Group and ultras took place in the forested hills of Metapal village, Dantewada Superintendent of Police Kamlochan Kashyap told PTI.
Dinesh Tati (23), resident of Palnar village in Gangaloor police station limits, was held on Friday from a tractor showroom in Bijapur town, Additional Superintendent of Police Chandrakant Gavarna said.
Naxals allegedly set on fire a conveyor belt of National Mineral Development Corporation in Chhattisgarh's Dantewada district in the wee hours on Wednesday causing production disturbance to the tune of 40,000 tonnes.
They were identified as LOS commander Erra and woman cadre Podiyam Bhime, deputy commander of the same squad, Sharma said.
Police seized condoms, contraceptive pills and pregnancy test kits from a Maoist hideout following an exchange of fire with red rebels on Odisha-Chhattisgarh border, a senior officer said in Nabarangapur on Thursday.
'Maoists are enraged that the media is reporting the truth.' 'They want to physically isolate the media and psychologically isolate the villagers who have found the confidence to speak to the press about the real situation.' 'Like terrorism ended in Punjab, Naxalism will end in Chhattisgarh,' the AIIMS doctor-turned IPS officer and SP of Dantewada tells Rediff.com's Archana Masih.
A Greyhounds jawan sustained injuries, following which he was airlifted to Warangal and admitted to a hospital.
A ruling Bharatiya Janata Party leader was on Monday shot dead by Naxalites in Katekalyan region of the Maoist-hit Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh, police said.
'Adivasis are a critical national treasure, so we need to protect them.' 'The fight for the tribals of Chhattisgarh needs people from all political parties. It cannot be about any single political group.'
Former leader of opposition in Chhattisgarh assembly Mahendra Karma sustained minor injuries after his vehicle was blown up by suspected Naxalss in Dantewada district of the state, police said.
Tribal teacher Soni Sori and her activist-nephew Lingaram Kodopi were released from Jagdalpur jail on Thursday after the Supreme Court granted them bail following their arrest two years ago for allegedly receiving money on behalf of Maoists from a corporate house in Chhattisgarh.
Prabhat Singh, who is said to be working for a Hindi national daily, was picked up by the Bastar police on March 21 from Dantewada district and arrested on Tuesday.
The migrant workers were walking along the rail tracks apparently to escape the attention of police. A video clip from the scene of the tragedy shows the bodies of migrant workers lying on the tracks and nearby with their meagre personal belongings scattered around.
Another jawan was injured in the incident. Naxalites shot dead two Salwa Judum leaders Hapka Ayatu and Palli Pandu yesterday in Kader and Kandulnar villages of Bijapur district, police said.
Gearing up for a strong offensive against left wing extremism, Chhattisgarh police have claimed to have intensified the process of setting-up 'fortified police stations' in Bastar region in order to strengthen security apparatus in the Naxal-hit area.
When the MPV carrying six personnel was around one km away from the camp, ultras triggered a powerful land mine blast, he said.
Maoists took 250 villagers hostage in Sukma district of Chhattisgarh hours before Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to neighbouring Dantewada but freed all the captives late on Saturday night barring one who was beaten to death after being tried in a 'people's court'.
Maoists on Thursday night freed the four abducted policemen in a dense forest of Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district after keeping them hostage for 12 days, a senior police officer said.