Maoists on Wednesday late night opened fire on five separate CRPF camps in quick succession in Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh, triggering gunbattles, but there was no immediate report of casualties.
About 300 to 400 Naxalites carried out the attacks on the camps of the paramilitary personnel at Chintangufa, where 75 CRPF men and a policeman were killed in the worst Maoist strike two weeks ago, Kanker Lanka, Potampalli and Bheji in quick succession beginning at around 1930 hours, sources said.
The government on Monday said there was no immediate need to deploy army in Maoist-hit regions and it could take nearly seven years to get rid of the menace.
Assembly polls in Chhattisgarh will be held in two phases across all 90 seats. The first phase on November 12 will cover 18 constituencies spread over in 8 Left Wing Extremism affected districts (Bastar, Bijapur, Dantewada, Sukma, Kondagaon, Kanker, Narayanpur and Rajnandgaon). The remaining 72 seats in north Chhattisgarh will go to polls in the second phase on November 20. As the state goes to the polls in its first stage on Monday, here's an easy guide to the 1st phase of polling.
'It is time to use the Indian military's decades-long expertise in fighting insurgency successfully,' advocates Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
The DD scribe, Dhiraj Kumar said the horrific incident would never fade from his memory.
A cache of weapons was recovered from the encounter site
This is suspected to be a Naxal ambush for security forces. Maoists fired multiple rounds while attacking the vehicle-mounted team, the official said.
Heavy rainfall coupled with strong winds continued to lash several parts of Chhattisgarh on Monday due to cyclone Hudhud, which hit coastal Andhra Pradesh and Odisha on Sunday.
Naxal-hit Bastar, which goes to polls on Monday, is witnessing a stiff political battle with Congress going all out to wrest control from BJP of the region widely seen as a deciding factor in winning Chhattisgarh.
Concerned over high incidents of violence, the Home ministry has asked the Election Commission to conduct the upcoming Lok Sabha polls in 33 Naxal-hit districts in the first phase to ensure maximum security and minimum casualties.
The Lok Sabha election will be held in 7 phases, beginning on April 11, 2019 and ending on May 19, 2019.
The Congress hit back at Modi and accused him of indulging in his 'trademark petty politics' and seeking to hide his 'abject failure and weak-kneed' approach to fighting Naxalism.
With heavy security deployment in hyper-sensitive areas of Bastar region ahead of polls, Naxalites are apparently trying to change their course of action and mobilising cadres to town areas to attack "soft targets" outside their core hold, intelligence sources said.
More than two lakh paramilitary personnel, thousands of vehicles and nearly a dozen helicopters will be deployed across the country to ensure smooth and violence-free elections beginning April 7.
Barring Maharashtra, the poll percentage in rest of the states was in excess of 60 per cent while in Puducherry it was 80.47 per cent.
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 the second phase on April 18, 97 seats,spread across 13 states and one Union Territory, will go to the polls.
Congress Vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday raked up "snoopgate" controversy to lash out at BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi saying the BJP's PM nominee is so desperate for power that he can even "divide the nation" to achieve his goal.
As the dust finally settles on the outcome of the Lok Sabha elections 2019 and Bharatiya Janata Party along with its NDA allies emerges as the clear winner, here is a list of who won in each of the 7 phases of elections.
Manipur needs an integrated politico, military, socio-economic approach, says Sanjeev Nayyar.
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