Government to honour policemen killed by Naxals with gallantry award

NEW DELHI: Government has decided to confer gallantry awards on the security personnel who sacrificed their lives in the recent Naxal attacks in Chhattisgarh and said it would also extend benefits to their kin.

"We have decided to give them the gallantry award. We have also finalised other facilities to be given (to their family members). We will make a proper announcement as soon as possible," Home Minister Rajnath Singh told reporters here.

Paying tribute to the security personnel killed in Chhattisgarh, he said, "I salute the courage of jawans who sacrificed their lives."

Seven STF personnel were killed and a dozen others injured in an ambush by Naxals on Saturday in the forests around Pidmel village in the Polampalli area, around 450-km from state capital Raipur.

In a separate attack, the third by them since Saturday, Maoist rebels last night killed a BSF jawan in Chhattisgarh's Kanker district.

The ultras yesterday also allegedly set ablaze at least 17 vehicles engaged in mining work in Naxal-hit Kanker district, 140-km from here. However, nobody was hurt in that strike.