Six-year-old Rupsa Sheikh is in a state of shock and has stopped speaking after her mother Salma died in the train derailment in West Midnapore district.
The 31 ultras killed in the February 9 encounter in Bijapur in Chhattisgarh included the mastermind of the January 6 IED blast in which eight security personnel and a civilian lost their lives and several other deadly attacks, a police official said. Among the 31 ultras killed in the encounter was Hunga Karma, who was secretary of the west Bastar division of the outlawed Communist Party of India (Maoist) and carried a reward of Rs 8 lakh on his head. He was the mastermind of the January 6 attack on security personnel. Karma also masterminded the 2006 Murkinar camp attack in which 11 police personnel were killed as well as the 2007 Ranibodli camp attack in which 55 security personnel were killed. Of the 31 killed ultras, 28, including 17 men and 11 women, have been identified and they carried a cumulative reward of Rs 1.10 crore on their heads. Out of the 81 Naxalites gunned down in the state so far this year, 65 were killed in the Bastar division, which comprises Bijapur and six other districts. So far this year, 77 firearms, including two AK-47 rifles, five Self Loading Rifles (SLR) and two INSAS rifles and three.303 rifles, have been recovered following separate encounters in Bastar region, the IG informed.
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.
According to Misri's statement, Modi said he could not accept the invitation due to a pre-existing schedule, and invited Trump to visit India for the Quad Summit, likely later this year.
Dozens of Maoist guerrillas in Bihar's Gaya district blew up a petrol pump owned by gangster-turned-politician Bindi Yadav and tried to set ablaze an oil point, tanker and generator room, the police said. Four employees of petrol pump have been missing since the Maoist attack. Police sources said activists of the banned Communist Party of India-Maoist were behind the attack.
The Medal for Gallantry recipients also included Humayun Bhat, a deputy superintendent of police who was one of four officers to lay down their lives during an encounter with terrorists in south Kashmir's Kokernag in September 2023.
The Chhattisgarh police, however, said the claim seemed to be an attempt to mislead the local population, and the security forces never compromise on the safety of the local people during their operations.
'When Maoists say that a protracted, violent, armed way is the only way to capture power then what is the way out except confronting them as a state,' asks Chhattisgarh DGP Vishwa Ranjan.
An elusive figure, Hidma is a top leader of the outlawed Naxal outfit CPI (Maoist) and has been on the radar of security agencies for many years.
A two-day bandh called by the Maoists in six states began on a bloody note with Naxals killing two policemen in Chhattisgarh's Dantewada district and five Communist Party of India-Marxist supporters in West Bengal's West Midnapore district.
According to police sources, Maoist rebels attacked Bamdah Bazaar under Chandramandi police station killing two traders and injuring some others.
The Naxalites carrying sophisticated weapons, including AK-47 rifles, targeted the two unarmed cops when they had just reported for duty at the mobile check-post on the inter-state border, an area that has witnessed a Maoist attack after a long time, they said.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav has ordered strict action against those responsible for the death of an ASI who was killed while trying to rescue a man from an attack by a group of tribals in Mauganj district. The incident has sparked outrage and raised concerns about the law and order situation in the state. The opposition Congress has criticized the government, alleging that law and order has collapsed in Madhya Pradesh.
For Malegaon's Muslims, Rahul Gandhi's remarks were simply one more indication that the party they once supported no longer cares for them, notes Jyoti Punwani.
The troops of these two units are expected to be based in Samba and near the Jammu-Punjab border, the sources said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday sounded the poll bugle in Bihar, where assembly elections are due this year, calling for 'an NDA government, once again', which would protect the state from the 'evil intentions' of the Rashtriya Janata Dal-Congress combine.
The Maoist threat should be taken with utmost seriously and the menace should be dealt with in every possible way, political leaders in Jharkhand opined.
Maoists shot dead five villagers and kidnapped at least five others in Bihar's Munger district on early Saturday, the police said.
A large number of Maoists have been killed and four policemen were missing in the continuing gunbattle between security forces and the militants, who killed 15 people on Friday, in the Ganjam-Kandhamal border area of Orissa, official sources said.
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).
Three policemen were injured when Maoists attacked their make-shift camp at Cone village in Latehar district of Jharkhand in the wee hours on Tuesday.
The clash occurred after Maoists attacked a team of the Royal Nepal Army's Thakurdwara Battalion trying to clear obstructions on the Kohalpur-Chisapani section of the East-West Highway on Sunday.
Anti-Naxal operations will be intensified in the aftermath of the Maoist attack on Congress leaders, the government said on Tuesday but ruled out holding peace talks with the extremists unless they abjure violence.
Union Minister of State for External Affairs General (retd) V K Singh opposed deployment of the Army in Maoist-affected areas on Tuesday, saying that the use of armed forces against "our own citizens" would "tarnish" its image.
Deputy Police Superintendent A K Lal said about 40 Maoists activists armed with sophisticated weapons opened fire on Sharma's family. His wife along with an uncle and a bodyguard were killed in the incident, he added.
The chronology of major Maoist attacks in the country in the last five years
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.
The Maoist attack near Dantewada in Chhattisgarh is the fifth major strike by Naxals in the country this year.
A spike in Maoist violence and tribal people deserting a state-sponsered movement has made matters worse in India's worst Maoist-hit state.
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.
Over a 1000 rebels attacked troops guarding a telecommunications tower at Bhojpur, 250 km east of Kathmandu.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will convene a high level meeting to rework the government's anti-Naxal strategy on May 24, even as Home Minister P Chidambaram has taken on his own party for undermining the ongoing fight against the Maoist onslaught and asked leaders like Digvijay Singh and Arun Jaitley (without naming them) to take a broader overview of the Naxal issue and refrain from weakening the government.
At least five persons, including four policemen, were killed and three injured on Sunday evening when cadres of the Communist Party of India-Maoist attacked the police station at Jajha railway station in Bihar's Munger district. The Maoists looted the entire stock of arms and ammunition from the police station. Top district officials as well as railway officials had rushed to the spot.
Fancy solutions by armchair experts are of no use to thousands of valiant CRPF jawans and local police who are fighting lone battles, says retired IPS officer V Balachandran
Addressing media persons in New Delhi, Chidambaram said: "It was a somewhat bizarre offer. That is because, barely 3 hours after the so-called offer, the CPI (Maoist) attacked a joint patrol party of the West Bengal police and the CRPF in PS Lalgarh, district West Midnapore. The patrol party retaliated and three people were killed."
According to the police, these villages have never seen unfurling or hoisting of the national flag since 1947, but that will change when its residents will join the rest of the country in celebrating Republic Day, which commemorates the day when the Constitution came into effect in 1950.
