70 killed as Maoists ambush CRPF team

RAIPUR: At least 70 CRPF personnel were killed in an attack by Naxalites in Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh early on Tuesday.

The attack took place when a CRPF patrol party was returning from a road opening duty in the naxalite-infested Mukrana forest in the district between 6 to 7 am. "We have rushed helicopters to evacuate the casualties," Chhattisgarh Director General of Police Viswa Ranjan told PTI.

The death toll in the attack may rise as many of the personnel have been seriously injured.

The CRPF patrol party was totally taken aback by the Maoists who surfaced at a hillock to carry out the attack.

Dantewada Superintendent of Police Amresh Mishra told PTI that the Naxals blew up a vehicle carrying the CRPF personnel.

The incident took place in the early hours near Chintalnar -Tarmetla village in the district when ultras attacked a joint team comprising personnel from CRPF, district forces and special police, he said.

The team had been camping in interiors of Tarmetla jungles for the last three days as part of a combing operation, Mishra said. Four policemen have been injured in the blast. Additional police forces have been rushed to the spot, he said.

The landmine had exploded in Tanginiguda area when a van carrying jawans of the elite anti-Naxalite Special Operation Group (SOG) was returning from an operation in adjacent Malkangiri district.

The attack came two days after Maoists triggered a landmine blast killing 11 security personnel and injuring several others in Orissa's Koraput district.

Chhattisgarh's mineral rich Bastar region spread out in about 40,000 sq km is made up of five districts - Bijapur, Kanker, Narayanpur, Bastar and Dantewada.