New Delhi: Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh on Tuesday paid homage to 25 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel who lost their lives in a Naxal attack in the state’s Sukma district on Monday.
The attack on the CRPF road-opening party moving towards Chintagufa area occurred around 12.25 pm in south Bastar area of the state.
“We have lost twenty-five men in the encounter. As of now, we know that these men were out for a road opening task and they came under heavy fire from Naxalites…,” CRPF Deputy Inspector General M. Dinakaran said.
The six troopers who were wounded and have been warded in hospitals include Assistant Sub-Inspector R P Hembram and Constables Swaroop Kumar, Mohinder Singh, Jitendra Kumar, Sher Mohammed and Latoo Oraon. Mohammed and Oraon were said to be out of danger.
Narrating the horrible experience, Costable Sher Mohammed said, “First, villagers traced our location and strength then almost 300 Naxals attacked us. In retaliatory firing, we also killed many of them. At least 3-4 naxals were shot in the chest.”
Meanwhile, CRPF Cobra teams have launched a major search operation under the guidance of senior officials to nab the ultras and recover the stolen arms and ammunition.
“A helicopter has already left for the spot to evacuate the injured. The encounter is still on,” a senior officer said. Reinforcements, including CoBRA commandos of the CRPF and its other units, have been rushed to the scene from the nearest camp of the paramilitary force, the officer added.
Speaking on the tragic incident, Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari on Monday said the government should take action against people who are behind the attack.
“Extremely unfortunate, hope govt will act with alacrity. Hope government initiates appropriate action against people responsible for the attack,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has asked for a detailed report on the Naxal attack on CRPF jawans in Chattisgarh’s Sukma district. MoS Home Hansraj Ahir is going to Chhattisgarh to take stock of the situation. Ahir will be accompanied by Joint Secretary (Naxal management) in the home ministry Praveen Vashisht and acting CRPF Director General Sudeep Lakhtakia.
This was the second major attack on CRPF personnel in 2017. On March 11, twelve CRPF personnel were killed in Sukma district of Chhattisgarh after the Naxals ambushed a CRPF patrol party in the Maoist hotbed and looted their arms. Four personnel were also injured in the attack.
In 2010, in the worst attack on CRPF, 76 men died in Dantewada as they were on an area domination exercise.