A police jawan was killed and three others were injured when Naxals attacked a police patrolling party in Maoist-hit Konda Goan district of Chhattisgarh in the small hours of Friday, police said. "The face off between policemen and ultras took place in Borgoan area of Keshkal town of the district at around 1 am," said Konda Gaon Superintendent of Police D Shravan.
At one location, seven bodies of the troops were recovered and the tree trunks bore bullet shots, indicating that a fierce gun battle took place in the area.
Congress's Devti Karma won the bypoll for the seat, reserved for Scheduled Tribes, by a margin of 11,192 votes, a poll official said.
Seven policemen were on Sunday killed and 2 others injured when Naxals carried out a landmine blast in Maharashtra's Gadchiroli district.
A Delhi court has ordered framing of charges against banned terrorist organisation Indian Mujahideen's (IM) co-founder Yasin Bhatkal and several of its operatives, including Mohammed Danish Ansari, in a case of conspiring to wage war against India in 2012.
Jolted by Maoist targeting Congress leaders in Chhattisgarh, the Centre on Monday asked all Left Wing Extremism-hit states to revamp security of political workers and appoint nodal officers to coordinate political programmes so that such deadly attacks do not occur in future.
However, the magnitude of the Naxalite offensive came as a surprise.
Maoist chief Prachanda has alleged that India and the United States had planned to launch an anti-China campaign, even a possible attack on the Communist giant, using Nepalese territory. "The US-India plan had to face challenges from our party and that triggered the conspiracy against my government," Prachanda, who quit following a rift with his coalition partners over his controversial decision to sack the army chief, said at a training programme of the Maoists in Kathmandu.
Appearing in a federal courthouse in downtown Washington, DC, Trump entered the not guilty plea before Indian-American judge Magistrate Moxila Upadhyaya.
Using the 'Hot Balloon' technique, experts from the Indian Navy brought the launch to the surface on Sunday evening, exactly eight days after it had drowned in an attack by the rebels of the Communist Party of India-Maoist killing more than 30 Greyhound commandos and policemen.
A 75-year-old Indian-origin Maoist cult leader was on Friday found guilty of rape, child cruelty and falsely imprisoning his daughter for 30 years by a British court.
Terming the recent Maoist strike on a paramilitary camp in West Bengal as a 'cowardly' act, President Pratibha Patil on Monday made it clear that such 'senseless violence' would strengthen the government's resolve to tackle it with 'added vigour.'
At least 13 security personnel were killed on Friday when Naxals triggered a blast and then opened fire on a patrol party near Tongada village, bordering Andhra Pradesh, in the Maoist-affected district of Bijapur in Chhattisgarh. The patrol party, comprising 21 police personnel, was returning from Terla village when the rebels unleashed the attack.
'Our Left is squeamish about democracy. They are so mechanical they have only dogma.'
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.
The Supreme Court on Thursday allowed jailed activist Gautam Navlakha's request for house arrest, saying prima facie there is no reason to reject his medical report.
The United Nations has expressed concern over the killing and maiming of children who continue to be recruited and used as human shields by Maoists in India and over the threat of sexual violence against girls within Naxalite ranks.
'Now that an extremist organisation like the PFI has been banned, it is time for the leaders to reach out to the minority community.' 'You need to have co-ordination between the State and the social fabric to send out the message that it is not directed at the community, and they should not feel vulnerable.'
Security agencies are working to ascertain a claim made by Naxals that they abducted a CoBRA commando after the ambush in Chhattisgarh on Saturday that left at least 22 security personnel dead, official sources said
High voter turnout was recorded in most of the seven assembly constituencies in six states where by-elections were held on Tuesday.
He accused Naxalites of using tribal villagers as a shield.
The Maoists rained bullets from light machine guns and used low-intensity improvised explosive devices to mount the attack that went on till evening.
Seventeen people, including the son of former Jharkhand chief minister Babulal Marandi, were killed by armed Naxalites at Chilkhadia village in Giridih district in the wee hours of Saturday. 25-30 Naxalites mingled with the crowd at a cultural programme in the village. Around 1 am, the Naxalites started firing indiscriminately and exploding bombs at the crowded site. While 14 people were killed on the spot, three died from their injuries later.
"The face off between policemen and ultras took place in Borgoan area of Keshkal town of the district at around 1 am," Konda Gaon Superintendent of Police D Shravan told PTI over phone.
Ever since the Salwa Judum or peace campaign against the Naxalites started on June 4 last year, over 300 villagers have been killed by Maoists.
Aravindan Balakrishnan , 75, is accused of raping and indecently assaulting two women members of the group.
The Congress slammed Ravi Shankar Prasad, accusing him of distorting, twisting and lying "with a straight face".
.jpg)
Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde on Wednesday vowed to take "revenge" for Tuesday's Naxal ambush in which 15 security personnel and a civilian were killed in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district, saying the attack could be an attempt to disrupt the Lok Sabha polls.
The finance minister also termed Kanhaiya Kumar's speech, delivered following his release on bail, a "victory for us", saying he had gone to jail for raising anti-India slogans but came back to speak amid slogans of 'Jai Hind' and hoisting of the tricolour.
'The IB and authorities knew I had given away all my property and had nothing in my name.' 'Even among police officers, they all respected me for this sacrifice which is rare these days.' 'They respected me from this point of view -- in this day and age few individuals live by ideals for the poor.'
A sub-inspector of the Andhra Pradesh's counter-Maoist force was posthumously awarded the Ashok Chakra, the highest peacetime gallantry award of the country, as India celebrated its 65th Republic Day on Sunday.
Rediff.com's Prasanna D Zore and Uttam Ghosh/Rediff.com travelled 650 km in Chhattisgarh's Sukma and Bijapur districts to report on the situation that exists 11 days after the Burkapal ambush, where 25 CRPF troops were killed by the Maoists.
For Mahendra Karma's wife, the November 11 election is a battle to redeem the legacy of the 'Bastar Tiger' who founded the Salwa Judum and was considered a symbol of the tribals' fight back against Maoists before he was killed along with top Chhattisgarh Congress leaders in May.
The tributes to Fr Stan by his associates and his co-accused (which were read out) provided a clue to why his death continues to touch so many.
The CRPF constable bled for 7 hours and trudged a distance of 9 km to the base camp before succumbing to his injuries in the Maoist attack in Chattisgarh bringing to the fore the need for speedy evacuation of the injured in anti-Naxal operations.
An injured jawan said around 10-12 Naxalites must have got killed in the 'befitting' retaliation by the CRPF contingent.
A contingent of 1,500 personnel drawn from six security camps launched the cordon and search operation against Naxals along Bijapur-Sukma border around the crack of dawn on Saturday.
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.
'I was wondering whether I would ever come out alive.'
The scam-ridden Congress government in Chhattisgarh has become a model of misrule and people have decided to root it out in the upcoming assembly elections, he said.
