This is the fourth IED blast triggered by Naxals in Chhattisgarh in the last 15 days.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday mooted the idea of "One Nation, One Uniform" for the police, saying it is just a suggestion for consideration and he is not trying to impose it on the states.
A study sponsored by the Union Home ministry has recommended that Naxal sympathisers should be "left alone" to the confinement of seminar halls rather than persecuting them.
In a major anti-Naxal operation, seven Maoists were killed in Betkathi village in Maharashtra's Gondia district in the wee hours on Tuesday.
Over 600 bullets and a dozen improvised explosive devices recovered after a gunbattle.
Replying to claims that Naxal activities gained momentum in Chhattisgarh during BJP's rule, the chief minister, without naming Congress, said Naxalism began spreading its tentacles from 70s and everyone knows who ruled the country from 70s to 2003.
Ahead of the all-party meet called by the government to discuss the naxal situation, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday said it will serve no purpose unless a comprehensive strategy is devised to deal with the problem.
The new battalion, numbered 241, was named Bastariya because it included recruits from Bijapur, Dantewada, Narayanpur, and Sukma districts.
Ten Naxals were killed in an encounter with security forces in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district on Tuesday.
Rediff.com's Vicky Nanjappa explains why destroying mobile towers just before a political rally is a big headache for security agencies.
He said in most of the Naxal attacks, it has been noticed that villagers were used as human shields by the insurgents during the gun battle.
Chairing a meeting to review the security situation in LWE-affected states, Shah said the Modi government has adopted a policy of zero tolerance against left wing extremism since 2014.
Congress General Secretary Digvijaya Singh on Thursday alleged that lack of coordination between the security forces and the state police was leading to rise in Naxal violence in Chhattisgarh, and accused the Bharatiya Janata Party government of having a nexus with ultras for political gains.
Six Naxalites, including "deputy commander" Punem Nagesh, his wife, and another female cadre, were killed in an encounter with security personnel in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district on Wednesday, a police officer said.
Campaigning ended on Wednesday evening for 102 Lok Sabha seats across 21 states and Union territories which will go to polls in the first phase on April 19 with top leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance and the opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) making a last-gasp effort to woo voters.
An injured jawan said around 10-12 Naxalites must have got killed in the 'befitting' retaliation by the CRPF contingent.
CRPF Inspector General Pankaj Kumar Sinh said a joint team of CRPF jawans and state police deployed in Jagargunda area of Dantewada had gone for area domination exercise when about 200 Naxals started firing at them near Aasrampura village.
The skirmish took place on Thursday morning when a team of the 171st battalion of Border Security Force was out on a road security operation in Bande police station area, a senior police official said.
This is one of the biggest casualties suffered by the elite COBRA unit that undertakes special jungle warfare ops.
Two Border Security Force jawans and a civilian driver were killed when Naxals blew up their vehicles in Maoist-hit Sukma district of Chhattisgarh on Tuesday.
While they were cordoning-off a forested patch near Pariya village, the Naxals triggered an IED.
Describing Naxalism as the country's 'first enemy', Union Home Minister P Chidambaram has assured that the menace would be completely rooted out in another two or three years. He said Naxalism has assumed gigantic proportions as it had not been dealt with properly in the last 12 years. "Naxalism is the first enemy of the country," he said while addressing a public meeting at suburban Avadi, 45 km from Chennai, late on Sunday night.
Naxals were gearing up to organise a boycott of the coming assembly elections in Chhattisgarh and chalking out strategies for this, police said.
Naxal violence in Orissa has also put several investment proposals in jeopardy.
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.
The incident occurred around 7.45 pm on the "black top road" between Peddakodepal and Naimed villages under the Naimed police station area, when the victims were heading towards neighbouring Dantewada district in an SUV to visit a fair, said Deputy Inspector General (anti-naxal operation) Sundarraj P.
Naxals on Wednesday shot at a police officer and his son, injuring both critically, in Bastar district of Chhattisgarh. Bastar Superintendent of Police B L Meena said that a group of Naxals attacked Assistant Sub-inspector of Police Prakash Shukla and his son Punit while the two were riding a motorbike to Mardum.
A recent study on Naxalism in India has concluded that Naxal fighters spend roughly Rs 140 crore annually to wage war against the Indian State.
Four personnel were also injured in the Naxal attack and two of them were stated to be critical.
A home ministry report revealed that among the worst Naxal-infested states, maximum rebels were killed in Chhattisgarh, Director General of Police (DGP) Vishwa Ranjan said. Minimum Naxal incidents had taken place in the state in the last one year as well, he added.
Deva recently replaced Hidma as commander of the Maoists' battalion no. 1, the IG added.
Many people in Andhra Pradesh feel that the Centre had acted in haste while giving in to the demand for a separate Telangana. While the deterroiating health of K Chandrashekhar Rao and also the intense protest by the students was one of the main reasons, another worry was the emergence of the Naxal movement in parts of Telengana.
Naxals looted six automatic weapons -- two AK-47s and as many INSAS and self loading rifles -- of the deceased personnel.
Five naxals were gunned down by security forces in the jungles of Chhattisgarh's Narayanpur district in Maoist hotbed Bastar, police said on Saturday.
Acting on a tip-off regarding the Naxal hideout in the forest area, personnel belonging to the CRPF 192 batallion rushed to the site.
The past five years have seen Naxals attacking schools on atleast 48 ocassions.The spate of attacks on schools increased in 2008. In fact 13 schools were attacked in Jharkhand in one month in 2009. Rediff.com's Vicky Nanjappa traces the history of Naxal attcks on schools in the last few years.
A delegation of Congress leaders met EC officials and raised several issues, including the use of pictures and large cut-outs of the prime minister in government buildings and colleges and demanded that those be removed to maintain a level-playing field in the upcoming parliamentary election.
The Gujarat police has been able to suppress the menace of Naxalism in its initial stages in the state, Director General of Police (DGP) S S Khandwawala said on Friday.
An immediate grant of Rs 1.5 lakh, monthly stipends during training and even monetary incentives for surrender of weapons are all there for the asking for the banned Naxals under a surrender-cum-rehabilitation policy approved by the Centre on Monday.
550 live cartridges, an INSAS assault rifle, two other rifles and three self-loading rifle magazines were seized along with a huge quantity of explosives and detonators.
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