The bullet-riddled bodies of Chhattisgarh Congress chief Nandkumar Patel and his son, Dinesh, kidnapped by Naxals yesterday, were found today morning with those of eight others in the forest of Darba, in Bastar's Jiram valley.
The bodies of Patel and Dinesh were brought to Raipur this afternoon in a helicopter. The toll in the attack on a Congress convoy yesterday has climbed to 27 (10 of them policemen), while 32 were injured. Congress leader Vidya Charan Shukla, 84, injured in the attack, was today airlifted to Medanta Hospital in Gurgaon. "Shukla is undergoing treatment. He is critical," Yatin Mehta, chairman, Institute of Critical Care and Anaesthesiology, Medanta Hospital, said today.
Shukla yesterday underwent an operation in a Jagdalpur hospital for the removal of three bullets.
The Congress called for a general strike in Chhattisgarh tomorrow to press for dismissal of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in the state in the wake of the attack. The bandh call has been sounded in neighbouring Madhya Pradesh, too. All India Congress Committee Vice- President Rahul Gandhi, who reached Raipur yesterday midnight, went to the hospital and met the injured.
The bandh call has been sounded in neighbouring Madhya Pradesh, too. "We condemn the recent Naxal attack that claimed the lives of our former colleagues. Since Chhattisgarh was also a part of Madhya Pradesh before the division of the state, we call for a half-day state-wide bandh in protest," Kantilal Bhuria, state Congress president, told Business Standard.
The attack happened yesterday evening. A convoy of Congress leaders was travelling through the Geeram ghats near Darba as part of the "Parivartan Yatra" launched to oust the BJP government from Chhattisgarh that goes to poll in November this year. The convoy ran into a Naxal ambush when the rebels triggered landmines and opened indiscriminate fire.
They then sought out and killed former leader of opposition and founder of the 'Salwa Judum', Mahendra Karma and former legislator, Uday Mudaliar.
Nandkumar Patel, his newly-married son, Dinesh and Congressman and legislator Kawasi Lakma were travelling in the same vehicle. After the ambush, the four took shelter nearby, an eyewitness told Business Standard. The Naxals reached the spot and sought their identity. When Patel disclosed, they took him to the forest, handcuffed with Dinesh.
"Lakma followed them and urged the Naxals to release the duo," a senior police official confirmed. When the rebels did not pay heed, Lakma even requested them to take him as their captive. The Naxals threatened him and sent him back. Lakma said he later heard the sound of shots being fired.
All India Congress Committee Vice President Rahul Gandhi, who reached Raipur yesterday midnight, went to the hospital and met the injured. He said it was not the time to do politics. "It is not an attack on the Congress. It is an attack on democracy. But, we will fight and will never bow down before Naxalism," he said.
Today, large scale demonstrations were staged by Congress workers in different parts of the state against the Raman Singh government. The business and commercial establishment across the state remained closed on the call of Chhattisgarh Chamber of Commerce and Industry to protest against the brutal Naxal attack.
The bodies of Patel and Dinesh were brought to Raipur this afternoon in a helicopter. The toll in the attack on a Congress convoy yesterday has climbed to 27 (10 of them policemen), while 32 were injured. Congress leader Vidya Charan Shukla, 84, injured in the attack, was today airlifted to Medanta Hospital in Gurgaon. "Shukla is undergoing treatment. He is critical," Yatin Mehta, chairman, Institute of Critical Care and Anaesthesiology, Medanta Hospital, said today.
Shukla yesterday underwent an operation in a Jagdalpur hospital for the removal of three bullets.
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In Raipur, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the sacrifices of Congress workers and security personnel in the Naxal attack would not go waste. "The Congress workers and policemen gave away their lives to protect democracy," Singh said. He, along with United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi, reached Raipur this afternoon to take stock of the situation and meet the injured. The Prime Minister and UPA chairperson also went to the Congress Bhawan, and paid tributes to the leaders who lost their lives.
The Congress called for a general strike in Chhattisgarh tomorrow to press for dismissal of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in the state in the wake of the attack. The bandh call has been sounded in neighbouring Madhya Pradesh, too. All India Congress Committee Vice- President Rahul Gandhi, who reached Raipur yesterday midnight, went to the hospital and met the injured.
The bandh call has been sounded in neighbouring Madhya Pradesh, too. "We condemn the recent Naxal attack that claimed the lives of our former colleagues. Since Chhattisgarh was also a part of Madhya Pradesh before the division of the state, we call for a half-day state-wide bandh in protest," Kantilal Bhuria, state Congress president, told Business Standard.
The attack happened yesterday evening. A convoy of Congress leaders was travelling through the Geeram ghats near Darba as part of the "Parivartan Yatra" launched to oust the BJP government from Chhattisgarh that goes to poll in November this year. The convoy ran into a Naxal ambush when the rebels triggered landmines and opened indiscriminate fire.
They then sought out and killed former leader of opposition and founder of the 'Salwa Judum', Mahendra Karma and former legislator, Uday Mudaliar.
Nandkumar Patel, his newly-married son, Dinesh and Congressman and legislator Kawasi Lakma were travelling in the same vehicle. After the ambush, the four took shelter nearby, an eyewitness told Business Standard. The Naxals reached the spot and sought their identity. When Patel disclosed, they took him to the forest, handcuffed with Dinesh.
"Lakma followed them and urged the Naxals to release the duo," a senior police official confirmed. When the rebels did not pay heed, Lakma even requested them to take him as their captive. The Naxals threatened him and sent him back. Lakma said he later heard the sound of shots being fired.
All India Congress Committee Vice President Rahul Gandhi, who reached Raipur yesterday midnight, went to the hospital and met the injured. He said it was not the time to do politics. "It is not an attack on the Congress. It is an attack on democracy. But, we will fight and will never bow down before Naxalism," he said.
Today, large scale demonstrations were staged by Congress workers in different parts of the state against the Raman Singh government. The business and commercial establishment across the state remained closed on the call of Chhattisgarh Chamber of Commerce and Industry to protest against the brutal Naxal attack.