Deadly Attack

The Maoist ambush in Sukma in Chhattisgarh, which left 25 CRPF personnel dead, puts the spotlight once again on the troubled region.

- Divya Trivedi

THE seemingly never-ending cycle of violence in Chhattisgarh’s restive regions saw another flash point on April 24 when Maoists ambushed a police party in Sukma district in the Bastar region, killing 25 and injuring seven Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel.

The nearly 100-strong 74th Battalion of the CRPF was providing security for road construction work near Burkapal on the Dornapal  - Jagargunda road in south Sukma. When half of them broke for lunch, they were surrounded by Maoists and the two sides engaged in a gun battle that lasted for a while. According to police reports, 10-12 Maoists were also killed in the exchange. The Maoists decamped with the arms and ammunition of the killed security personnel and took away the bodies of their slain comrades.

The names of the deceased personnel are Inspector Raghubir Singh, Sub-inspector Krishna Kumar Das, Assistant Sub-inspectors Sanjay Kumar, Naresh Kumar and Rameshwar Lal, Head Constables Banna Ram, M. Padmanabham, K.P. Singh and Surender Kumar, and Constables P. Alagupandi, N. Sendhil Kumar, N Thirumurugan, Manoj Kumar, Binoy Chandra Barman, Arup Karmakar, Naresh Yadav, Saurabh Kumar, Krishna Kumar Pandey, Abhay Mishra, Abhay Kumar, Ranjeet Kumar, Ban-mali Ram, Ram Mehar, Ashish Kumar Singh, and Narayan Prasad Sonkar.

Jawan Sheikh Mohammad, who was injured in the attack, told reporters from his hospital bed in Raipur, that over 300 Maoists were involved in the attack. According to him, the Maoists first sent some village residents to check the location of the CRPF team. “Our unit was on road construction duty. Many villagers were also carrying weapons, and women Maoists were also present,” he said.