Naxals kill 23 security personnel

Naxal guerrillas struck again in a spectacular fashion and killed 23 security personnel "" mostly jawans from the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) "" and a civilian in a densely forested pocket of the Dantewada district late last evening. About a dozen other policemen were injured in the gunbattle.

The incident took place near Mariyaguda village, about 520 km south of the Chhattisgarh capital, under the Errabore police station on the border of Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh.

A contingent of 115 jawans comprising personnel from the CRPF, state police and Special Security Officers (the villagers recruited and armed by the state government to combat the red army), left for the spot on Monday afternoon following a tip off that rebels had set up a temporary camp in the area.

The security personnel stormed the camp after a heavy exchange of fire. But the rebels sneaked into the forest.

A Sangham member (a Naxal aide) arrested from the spot told the security personnel that another camp was located nearby and the rebels might have taken shelter there. "But that was probably a trap designed by the rebels to propel the jawans into the danger zone," a senior police official told Business Standard.

When the security personnel reached the spot, rebels "welcomed" them by spraying bullets from sophisticated weapons besides triggering series of explosions.

The jawans managed to take positions and return the fire. But they could not break the cordon. The security personnel retreated from the spot as heavy rains and darkness forced them to discontinue the gunbattle that lasted till 8.30 pm.

When the jawans returned to the camp at around midnight, they were stunned to find 24 personnel missing. The information was immediately relayed to all the police stations and security personnel camps.

Past midnight, a massive operation was launched in the area to trace the missing personnel.

The bodies were found in the forest near Mariyaguda, about 20 km from Errabore block headquarters.

Inspector General of Police, Bastar range, R K Vij confirmed the recovery of 24 bodies. The victims include 15 CRPF jawans, two state police personnel and six SPOs. A civilian killed in the incident could not be identified.

The injured have been admitted in different hospitals in Konta and Bhadrachalam in Andhra Pradesh.