M A I N   N E W S

Naxals kill 25 in Chhattisgarh

Raipur, July 17
At least 25 persons were killed and 80 injured, 32 of them seriously, while around 250 were missing following an attack by around 800 armed Naxalites in Dantewada district here today, the police said.

The Maoists killed the villagers brutally. Around 20 of them were hacked to death with sharp-edged weapons, while three were charred to death and two were shot dead by at the Errabore relief camp, 550 km from the state capital, police and official sources said.

Of those missing, 23 were kidnapped by the Naxalites from the camp, where around 4,000 persons had taken shelter, sources said.

State Home Minister Ram Vichar Netam, on his way to the area, said the security forces were searching for the Maoists who carried out the attack.

The state was in constant touch with the Centre and a military helicopter has been sought to evacuate the injured. Around 1 am, 800 armed Naxalites attacked a CRPF camp at Errabore to distract the security forces so that they could strike at the government-run relief camp at the same time, CRPF sources said.

After blocking all roads that connect Errabore, the Naxalites indiscriminately fired at the CRPF camp from all sides, CRPF sources said.

At the same time, another group of armed Naxalites raided the relief camp located close to the Errabore police station. The rebels triggered blasts and attacked people with sharp-edged weapons and opened indiscriminate fire, sources said.

The attack lasted for around two hours and when CRPF personnel chased the Maoists in a bulletproof vehicle, the Naxalites ran to nearby jungles, taking with them some people from the camp, they said.

Dantewada SP Om Prakash Pal reached the spot and the police and the CRPF began search operations in the area. More details would be known after the search party returned.

After the starting of Salwa Judum or peace campaign against the Naxalites on June 4 last year, over 300 villagers have been killed by Maoists. Because of the threat from left wing extremists, over 50,000 persons from about 700 villages of Dantewada district have taken shelter in 17 relief camps run by the state government.

Meanwhile, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh has condemned the Naxalite attack. “I have discussed the matter with the Home Ministry,” he said. He is on a tour of Kolkata for consultations on the draft approach paper for the 11th Five-Year Plan.

About relief operations, he said Army helicopters were being used to carry the injured to hospitals.

He said his government had decided to give a compensation of Rs 1 lakh to the next of the kin of victims. — PTI, UNI