Maoists used light machine guns (LMG), under-the-barrel grenade launchers (UBGL) and “desi rockets” in a deadly attack on a security team in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur on Saturday, according to senior officials from the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF). ).
Officials said that personnel directly involved in the operation gave an account of what happened at the site of the encounter on the Bijapur-Sukma border, detailing how a 400-member security team was ambushed in what is suspected to be a movement. planned.
CRPF Director General (DG) Kuldiep Singh, who is in Chhattisgarh, confirmed 22 casualties, including from his force. Officials News18 spoke to said light machine guns inflicted the most casualties.
“The force commander told me that the Naxals had hidden a light machine gun somewhere… from that position, they kept firing while hiding safely. UBGL rockets, desi, etc. have also been used previously, but this time the intensity was much higher. Our boys fought bravely. The Naxals carried off their dead and wounded in three tractors. So you can imagine the kind of casualties they suffered, ”said Singh.
A senior official said the Maoists “fired mortars and bullets” initially, wounding “some of our personnel” near a village in the Tarem area, which is about 400 kilometers from the state capital, Raipur. “The rest of the group, in a box formation, was leading the wounded to safety when the light machine guns opened fire from the side of the village … the left flank that had DRG and CoBRA suffered the maximum impact,” added this CRPF official.
In addition to the elite unit of the CRPF’s anti-Maoist Resolute Action Command Battalion (CoBra), the state’s District Reserve Group (DRG) and a Special Task Force (STF) participated in the operation.
Officials suspect that the Maoists planned the ambush carefully, intending to draw in forces first and then inflict maximum casualties. “We had specific information that Naxal commanders were present in the area around the village of Tekulgudem, in the Silger forests. A search operation was launched based on this information, ”Chhattisgarh Police Director General DM Awasthi told News18.
He told the media that two bodies were recovered on Saturday and 20 on Sunday. A jawan was still missing.
Intelligence officials said that the contributions about the presence of Maoists were correct. “Whether the information was planted as bait to attract the forces is a matter of investigation, but the military commander Hidma was present in that area,” said another official.
The ambush is suspected to have been carried out by Madvi Hidma, the notorious commander of the People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) of the outlaw CPI (Maoist). He is believed to have been involved in several major attacks, including the one in 2013 that killed 27, including top leaders of the state Congress.
Survivors told senior security officials that around 350 armed CPI (Maoist) cadres and about 250 Jan militia members, who are Maoist sympathizers, joined the 400-member joint team of CoBRA, DRG and STF.
The officials added that the Maoists also suffered heavy losses. “The Maoist woman (killed in the shooting) appears to be a commander as she was carrying an INSAS rifle,” a CRPF official told News18. Two others were identified as Suresh and Vikki.
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