CRPF hoists flag at 2010 Dantewada ambush site on Independence Day

RAIPUR:CRPF, which lost 75 men in a deadly naxal ambush in Chhattisgarh's Dantewada in 2010, unfurled the tri-colour at the same encounter spot as a mark of domination of the area on the occasion of the Independence Day. A contingent of Central Reserve Police Force ( CRPF) troops, commandos of the specialised CoBRA battalion led by Inspector General (Operations) H S Sidhu, camped in Tadmetla-Chintagufa area of the Naxal violence affected Sukma district of the state yesterday to mark the Independence Day.

The CRPF, since the 2010 ambush, has established a post in this area which lies in the most difficult Maoist hit area of Bastar of the state.

"The flag hoisting ceremony was done to mark the domination of this area which few years back saw a total of 76 security personnel getting killed, 75 of which belonged to CRPF. Since last year the force has made it a point to unfurl the national flag here," a senior official said.

During the event yesterday, Naxals blew a number of locally made improvised bombs in the area which injured a CRPF constable Suchitra K Shetty who was part of sanitisation of the area. Shetty was later air evacuated to the state capital.

The Naxals had dealt the biggest blow to security forces and CRPF, the lead combat unit for conducting anti-Naxal operations in the country, in 2010 when they ambushed a patrol in this area killing 76 personnel.