Sukma attack: Ambush by Maoists claimed the lives of 26 CRPF personnel.
Highlights
- Six men were injured and they have been airlifted for treatment
- The CRPF personnel were providing security to road construction workers
- On 11 March, 12 CRPF men died after being ambushed by Maoists in Sukma
In the deadliest ambush by Maoists since April 2010, 26 personnel of the Central Reserve Police Force died and six were injured in Chhattisgarh's Sukma this afternoon. The well-planned massacre started around 1 pm, when the men from the 74 Battalion were sanitizing the area for a group of construction workers building a road.
The Maoists had first sent locals to find out the position of the CRPF, one of the survivors told the media. "Then we were set upon by 300 of them... villagers, women and the militia-types in black uniforms. They carried automatic weapons, AK 47, Insas rifles," he said.
After the attack, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh tweeted:
The injured men have been air-lifted and sent to Raipur and Jagdalpur for treatment. Sources in the home ministry said two of the bodies have been recovered.
On April 6, 2010, 76 men of CRPF died in Dantewada as they were on an area domination exercise.
Following the attack, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh cut short his visit to Delhi and rushed back to Raipur for an emergency meeting.
Sukma is part of south Bastar, which for decades has suffered the Maoist menace. On 11 March, 12 CRPF men were killed and four were injured in an ambush in Sukma. The forces were providing security cover for road construction on the Bheji-Gorkha-Injiram Axis area.
After the attack, one of the biggest in the last two years, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said it was a sign of the "frustration" of the Maoists because of the "unprecedented success" of the security operations against them.
Making a statement in Lok Sabha, the minister said last year, 135 extremists were killed, 700 were arrested, 1,198 surrendered, and there was a 15 per cent drop in the number of attacks.
Quoting local officers, news agency Press Trust of India reported that reinforcements have been rushed to the area from the nearest camp of the CRPF.