In a brazen attack on the security forces comprising CRPF and state police personnel, the Maoists first triggered a landmine blast and then opened fire from all sides.
In the indiscriminate firing, 11 CRPF and 4 state police personnel were killed. One civilian was also killed in the crossfire.
- Inspector Subhash Chanda, Jind Haryana
- ASI Manmohan Singh, Satna, MP
- Head constable Pradeep Kumar, Ranchi
- Constable Md. Faizul Haque, Nagaon, Assam
- Constable Manoj Kumar Brethe Janjgir, Chhattisgarh
- Constable Nahar Singh, Morena, UP
- Constable Neeraj Kumar
- Constable Somnath Rathore, Annupur MP
- Constable Kaushal Kishore, Jalaun, UP
- Inspector Tilak Raj Singh, Naushera, Punjab
- Head Constable Lakhbir Singh, Kangra, HP
The ADG (anti-Maoist operation) R.K. Vij told that the troopers were deployed under a road opening operation to sanitise the route along the Jeerum valley ahead of a visit by CRPF officials, scheduled to arrive in Sukma from Jagdalpur (Bastar), on Tuesday.
Around 50 jawans were out to sanitise, clear and ensure the safety of the CRPF officials when they ran into the ambush.
"The Maoists, around 200 in numbers, resorted to indiscriminate firing from dominant positions on the hilly terrain. Fifteen jawans were killed and three injured, who were air-lifted to Raipur for urgent medical treatment," ADG (anti-Maoist operation) R.K. Vij told
According to Inspector General of Police (Bastar), Arun Dev Gautam, a call was made to the police station in Tongpal saying that a road construction equipment has been set on fire.
A team of security forces left Tongpal on foot to check the veracity of the claim and they walked into the ambush
The latest strike took place close to the area where Congress leaders V.C. Shukla, Mahendra Karma and Nand Kumar Patel came under attack in May 2013 and happened just days before the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, putting a serious question mark about the state's security preparedness.
The incident took place about 8 km away from the spot where Maoists attacked the Congress leadership in May 2013. Since the beginning of 2014, 21 security personnel have been killed in Maoist zones and 23 rebels were killed in encounters.
The figures of the last three years indicate that the number of casualties and the number of violent incidents is much more than all insurgency hit areas. The death toll of security personnel killed between 2011 and 2013 was 371.
The incident took place when a couple of intelligence inputs had been sent to both the paramilitary forces and state police in Bastar about the presence of Maoists in the area. But apparently no adequate safety measures had been taken.
However, state home minister Ram Sevak Paikra denied there was any intelligence failure
Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde and Chhattisgarh chief minister Raman Singh today paid tribute to 11 CRPF jawans who were among 16 people killed in a Naxal ambush in Jagdalpuron Wed March 12,2014
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