The Andhra Pradesh police have arrested a suspected Naxal leader identified as Savita alias Madhvi in Khammam district of the state.
This is one of the biggest casualties suffered by the elite COBRA unit that undertakes special jungle warfare ops.
70 per cent voting was recorded across 18 constituencies of Bastar and Rajnandgaon till 3 pm in the first phase of assembly election in Chhattisgarh, where violence by Naxals who have called for a poll boycott left a Central Reserve Police Force jawan dead.
An injured jawan said around 10-12 Naxalites must have got killed in the 'befitting' retaliation by the CRPF contingent.
The Maoists on Sunday began their two-day Bharat bandh by blowing up railway tracks in two districts of Jharkhand, even as the death toll in the Naxal attack on the convoy of independent MP and former assembly speaker Inder Singh Namdhari rose to 11.
Acting Director General of the CRPF, Sudeep Lakhtakia said the ambush has "naturally called for the revision of standard operating procedures" in these areas.
Hours after targeting the prestigious Rajdhani Express, armed Maoists stormed a government toll plaza in Bihar's Gaya district, killing two people and looting weapons, a top officer said on Wednesday.
Opposition Congress and ruling Bharatiya Janata Party continued to exchange barbs over the Naxal attack in Chhattisgarh on Sunday, with the BJP demanding a narco test on Congress Member of Legislative Assembly Kawasi Lakhma, who was reportedly spared by the insurgents while other senior leaders were killed.
Seven members of a polling team and five Central Reserve Police Force personnel were among 14 killed as Naxals struck twice on Saturday in a break of less than an hour, blowing up a bus and an ambulance in Bijapur and Bastar districts of Chhattisgarh.
'They try and extend the hostage situation as long as they can to remain in the national headlines.'
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.
All Naxal-affected states demonstrate police as well as governance incapacities. Odd occasions of success and temporary dip in Naxal violence notwithstanding, the states have utterly failed to dominate and make their presence felt over areas under the extremist domination, says Bibhu Prasad Routray.
Five security personnel, including three state policemen, were on Wednesday killed when armed Naxals attacked them during construction of a culvert in Aurangabad district of Bihar, a senior police offical said.
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.
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.
Bhatnagar is expected to take charge of the CRPF later this week as he is on an official assignment in Indonesia in the capacity of NCB DG.
The roots of the problem lies in the alienation of the tribals. Extreme sensitivity is required to tackle the issues involved. Rough and ready methods of using force may prove counterproductive in the long run, says Colonel (retd) Anil Athale.
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.
Among the three slain personnel, two belonged to the CoBRA's 201st battalion and one to the CRPF's 150th battalion, a senior police officer said.
Three policemen were shot dead and two injured by armed Maoists in a running train near Jamalpur railway station in Bihar's Munger district on Saturday evening.
'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.
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.
The prime minister will be visiting an education city, aimed at providing education to under-privileged children living in the area
The government on Friday ruled out holding any talks with Naxalites but said a balanced approach will be adopted in close coordination with states to tackle the violence perpetrated by Maoists.
Kharge also hit back at the BJP for criticising his party colleague Rahul Gandhi over a copy of the Constitution with a red cover. He showed a picture of PM Modi gifting a similar copy to former president Ramnath Kovind.
In the wake of uproar over the massacre of 76 security personnel in a Naxal attack in Dantewada, Chhattisgarh, both the Houses of Parliament were adjourned till 2 pm on Thursday.
The first prime minister to visit this Maoist hotbed in three decades, Narendra Modi on Saturday asked Naxals to abjure gun and allow peace so that the macabre drama of death will end to pave the way for development.
With all the evasions, one assertion made by the Pune (Rural) police stood out: They had found no connection of the Elgar Parishad with the violent incidents of January 1, 2018. Yet, the case against the 'Bhima Koregaon 16', which is based on exactly this alleged connection, continues, and seven of the accused continue to be behind bars under the UAPA, explains Jyoti Punwani.
In a case of abject apathy towards the kin of a martyred soldier, the Chhattisgarh police demanded the return of Rs 10,000 it has provided to the family of a martyred special police officer for his last rites.
The Maoists rained bullets from light machine guns and used low-intensity improvised explosive devices to mount the attack that went on till evening.
The paramilitary had cut down the use of these vehicles for anti-Naxal operations drastically to a 'bare minimum' after they were targeted in improvised explosive device blasts in the Left Wing Extremism-hit areas.
'The category of crime and criminals called Maoist or Naxal or #UrbanNaxals is an illegitimate creation of right-wing propaganda media frenzy.' 'It is a fiction repugnant to the Constitution and the law of the land,' argue Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira.
'I don't believe there is an international conspiracy to swamp tribals in India or in Jharkhand.'
Security forces have busted a transit naxal camp following an encounter with the ultras during a search operation conducted in Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh and recovered a large cache of arms and explosives, police said.
'My family members are devotees of Lord Tirumala Venkateswara. I visit the deity before making any major decisions.'
Banned outfit Communist Party of India-Maoist Tuesday claimed responsibility for the massacre of Congress leaders in Bastar region and demanded immediate suspension of all operations against it across the country.
Prime minister Manmohan Singh and several Congress leaders are against the formation of a separate state but are supporting the decision in the hope that it would win the party seats in the region. Renu Mittal reports
Condemning attack on Congress rally in Chhattisgarh, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi called for "a policy of zero tolerance" towards terrorism and Naxalism.
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.
The surrendered Naxal said such arguments and counter-arguments led to internal dispute. "I felt suffocated and a sense of remorse started setting in."
