Naxals kill 26 CRPF men in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district

CPI (Maoist) military wing likely behind attack

In one of the most shocking and gruesome ambush by the Maoist, 26 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were killed and more than half a dozen seriously injured in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district on Monday.

This was the second big incidence in Sukma within a span of one month. The last Maoist attack took place on 11 March, where 12 CRPF jawans were killed.

According to official CRPF sources, in a fierce encounter between 74 Battalion of the CRPF and Naxals, 26 jawans were killed. Out of 26, three personnel succumbed to injuries in a hospital in Raipur. The CRPF battalion was providing security to road construction work near Chintagufa in Sukma district of Chhattisgarh.

The ambush took place at around 12.30 pm on Monday.

The bodies of the personnel killed in the ambush have been taken to CRPF camp at Burkapal. The injured jawans have been evacuated by helicopter and shifted to hospitals in Jagdalpur and Raipur.

“CRPF DG and other senior officials are reaching Raipur and by tomorrow morning, they will be in Sukma,” a CRPF official said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his tweet has said that the sacrifice of the martyrs will not go in vain.

The ambush spot
The CRPF personnel were attacked at Kala Patthar near Chintagufa in Sukma district. The ambush spot is inside a deep forest, due to which communication has become difficult.

Who is behind the ambush
According to sources, the ambush was launched by the military wing of the banned CPI (Maoist). Equipped with sophisticated weapons like AK 47, Indian Small Arms System (Insas) rifles, hand grenades, etc, nearly 300 Naxals attacked CRPF jawans. It is the same wing that unleashed the 11 March attack.

How the ambush happened
A team of CRPF jawans of the 74 battalion (reportedly 99), a part of the road opening party left camp in the morning for providing security to a road construction work in the area.

“Our party was deployed for road opening to provide security to road construction activities in the area, when the ambush happened,” a CRPF official said.

At around 12.30 pm, in an ambush nearly 300 Maoist launched a surprise attack on the CRPF jawans from all sides. A fierce gun battle took place that resulted into the deaths of the jawans. No information is yet available on casualty at Maoist's end.

The CoBRA teams of the CRPF have reached as reinforcements and are carrying on the search operation.

Sources from Sukma said that the Maoist snatched weapons not only from the CRPF personnel who either got killed or were injured, but also from those fighting against them.

Injured so far
According to CRPF sources, the injured personnel who have been admitted in hospital include head constable Ram Mehar, constables Swaroop Kumar, Mohinder Singh, Jitendra Kumar, Sher Mohammad and Latoo Oraon.