Butchers of Chhattisgarh slaughter six civilians

NEW DELHI: Maoists guerrillas killed six civilians, including a village sarpanch, in Chhattisgarh’s Rajnandgaon district on Saturday night. The bodies, with their throats slit, were found by villagers on Sunday in a densely forested pocket between Uchapur and Taregaon areas.

The guerrillas had abducted the villagers, whom they suspected of being police informers, and then killed them. “The insurgents took the villagers into the thick jungle, slit the throats of six people and later threw their bodies near the villages,” state police spokesman R K Vij was quoted by agencies as saying in Raipur.

At least three villagers are still in the custody of guerrillas. The massacre has caused panic in Rajnandgaon, which borders Maharashtra.

Security forces, deployed in the state for anti-Maoist operations, are finding it difficult to reach the densely forested area. There is also worry that the the Maoists might be waiting with a booby trap to ambush the security personnel. Last year, a police convoy got caught in a booby trap laid out by the Maoists in the district. As many as 29 policemen, including district superintendent of police B K Choubey, were killed.

Meanwhile, on Sunday two Maoists were killed in an encounter with security forces in Kirandul area of Dantewada district of the state. Besides 12-bore guns and a few tiffin bombs, the police recovered posters against public sector National Minerals Development Corporation (NMDC) Ltd, which has iron ore mining facilities at Bailadila hills of Kirandul and Bacheli areas.

Chhattisgarh witnessed the deadliest ever Maoist attack last month in Dantewada district when 76 security personnel were killed. Earlier this month, eight Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were killed when their vehicle was blown up by rebels in Bijapur district.