Maoists Who Ambushed Personnel Were Carrying Light Machine Guns: Official
NDTV
About two dozen sophisticated assault weapons of the killed personnel are also stated to have been looted by the Maoists even as security officials said the search of the area is still on and details are being collected from the ground.
A group of around 400 Maoists, armed with light machine guns (LMGs), had ambushed security forces deployed for a special operation in Chhattisgarh, killing at least 22 personnel and injuring 30 others, besides decamping with over a dozen sophisticated arms, officials said today. The contingent of about 1,500 troops was drawn from CRPF's specialised jungle warfare unit CoBRA, its regular battalions, a unit of its Bastariya battalion, the Chhattisgarh Police affiliated District Reserve Guard (DRG) and others. They had launched a search and destroy operation along the border of Bijapur-Sukma district after they got inputs of Maoists presence in the area. A siege was laid at the crack of the dawn on Saturday following intelligence inputs that Maoists were undertaking their Tactical Counter Offensive Campaign (TCOC) campaign in the Jagargunda-Jongaguda-Tarrem axis, the officials said, adding the total strength of security personnel for the operation was 790 and the rest were taken as auxiliary and support elements for the long-haul operation. At least 400 Maoists, suspected to be led by the most-wanted Maoist commander and leader of the People's Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) battalion no 1-- Hidma-- and his associate Sujatha, ambushed the forces in an area that is a strong-hold of the Maoists due to the difficult terrain, large tracts of forests and a smaller number of security forces camps, an official said.More Related News