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Bijapur: CRPF personnel carry the coffin of a paramilitary soldier who lost his life in an encounter with Maoists, in Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh, Sunday, April 04, 2021.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday alleged that the operation against Naxals in Chhattisgarh, in which 22 security personnel were killed, was incompetently executed and poorly designed . Our jawans are not cannon fodder to be martyred at will, Gandhi said on Twitter.
Out of the 22 fatalities in the Saturday Naxal attack in the state, the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) lost eight men, including seven CoBRA commandos, while one jawan is from the Bastariya battalion, eight from the DRG and five from the Special Task Force.
UPDATED: April 5, 2021 10:05 IST
CRPF personnel carry the coffin of a jawan who was killed in the encounter with Naxals in Chhattisgarh (Dharmendar Sharma/India Today)
At least 22 security personnel were killed and 31 suffered serious injuries following an exchange of fire between forces and Naxals in Chhattisgarh s Bijapur. One soldier is still believed to be missing in the worst Naxal attack in four years.
Chhattisgarh Police said in a statement that at least 12 Maoists were killed and 16 injured in the gun battle following the ambush. The security forces were ambushed by around 400 Naxals, who surrounded the jawans from three sides and opened fire.
Jawans Walked Into Maoists U-Shaped Trap Based On Faulty Intel: Sources Chhattisgarh Maoist Attack: Once one of the teams reached the spot, some 400 Maoists encircled the security personnel from three sides.
Updated: April 05, 2021 11:23 am IST
Bijapur Naxal Attack: Over 30 personnel were injured in the line of duty on Saturday.
Raipur:
The security forces that were ambushed by Maoist guerrillas in Chhattisgarh on Saturday were acting on what is now being viewed as faulty intelligence. They had received inputs about the presence of two of their top leaders Madvi Hidma, the People s Liberation Guerrilla Army s (PLGA) battalion number 1 commander, and Sujatha, an associate in the Jagargunda-Jonaguda-Tarrem belt. It turned out to be a trap, sources now say.
Banerjee appealed to the people to vote for her All India Trinamool Congress party, adding that the Hooghly district is crucial for its victory in the state.
Some jawans carried their injured colleagues into the deserted Tekulguda village, only to run into a trap where Maoists pounced on them with daggers.
Some locals who reached the spot before police told TOI, “Blood-soaked bodies of security personnel were scattered over 1km and we could clearly see signs of their desperate struggle for life. Bullet-riddled and stabbed bodies were found in an open field and huts in Tekulguda. A few of the bodies were without trousers.”
Villagers said the Maoists had set up firing positions on a hilltop, a field and in spots inside the village. “The jawans were completely surrounded. All the 50-60 houses in Tekulguda were vacant as per the Maoists’ plan. Bullets and country-made mortars were recovered from the site,” they said.