Express News Service
RAIPUR: A day after the Dantewada attack: Maoist shadow over jawans’ cremation, chief minister Bhupesh Baghel said the martyrdom of security personnel will not go waste and the security forces will combat the outlawed Maoists more aggressively. He paid tributes to the jawans killed in a powerful Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast detonated by the Maoists in Dantewada, about 450 km south of Chhattisgarh capital Raipur.
“Our jawans died fighting the Maoists. During the last four years, more security camps were set up in core areas eliminating the liberty for the rebels to go into hiding. The battle against the left-wing extremists is now in its final stage,” Baghel asserted while he also reiterated that the door for a dialogue with the Maoists is open but they had to express their faith in the Constitution and give up arms.
The CM who was scheduled to visit poll-bound Karnataka for the election campaign has cancelled his trip. According to state public works department (PWD) officials, owing to the non-availability of security cover by the forces for the last three months, the road construction work got delayed in and around the area where the IED explosion occurred.
The relatives of two slain jawans didn’t perform the last rites at their native villages but opted Dantewada district headquarters owing to the Maoist terror. Unconfirmed reports said the rebels had warned villagers not to allow any jawan to be cremated in their respective village. There are a good number of former Maoist cadres who earlier surrendered and joined as district reserve guards (DRG) personnel. Their areas of operation fall in areas having a strong presence of left-wing guerillas.
The CM was accompanied by the state home minister Tamrdhwaj Sahu, senior officials besides people’s representatives at Karli police line in Dantewada and laid a floral wreath on the coffins of the departed security personnel.
Ten personnel of Dantewada District Reserve Guards (DRG) and a driver were killed after the vehicle they were travelling in was hit by an IED explosion at Aranpur on Wednesday. The blast tossed the vehicle several feet in the air and left an 8-ft deep and 12-ft wide crater-like structure on the road.
Tipped off about the presence of Maoists close to Sameli and Aranpur, a team of DRG had left on anti-Maoist search operations in the region three days ago. They were returning to Dantewada in a private vehicle from Aranpur when the Maoists ambushed the personnel. The attack came after a gap of nearly two years.
The Maoists with a presence in the seven districts of Bastar zone in south Chhattisgarh are waging a virtual war against the security forces and the state for over three decades. Meanwhile, the Maoists credited their military wing People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army with the latest attack. “You are being used as a tool by the Centre and state against enemies of the people,” said the note issued by Sainath, secretary, Darbha Division Committee of the CPI (Maoist).
The Dornapal-Aranpur-Jagargunda route is often cited as Khooni Sadak — the ‘bloodstained road’ as several jawans besides those engaged in the road construction have been killed by Maoists in a decade. The inhospitable area between Aranpur to Jagargunda is surrounded by hillocks.
RAIPUR: A day after the Dantewada attack: Maoist shadow over jawans’ cremation, chief minister Bhupesh Baghel said the martyrdom of security personnel will not go waste and the security forces will combat the outlawed Maoists more aggressively. He paid tributes to the jawans killed in a powerful Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast detonated by the Maoists in Dantewada, about 450 km south of Chhattisgarh capital Raipur.
“Our jawans died fighting the Maoists. During the last four years, more security camps were set up in core areas eliminating the liberty for the rebels to go into hiding. The battle against the left-wing extremists is now in its final stage,” Baghel asserted while he also reiterated that the door for a dialogue with the Maoists is open but they had to express their faith in the Constitution and give up arms.
The CM who was scheduled to visit poll-bound Karnataka for the election campaign has cancelled his trip. According to state public works department (PWD) officials, owing to the non-availability of security cover by the forces for the last three months, the road construction work got delayed in and around the area where the IED explosion occurred.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });
The relatives of two slain jawans didn’t perform the last rites at their native villages but opted Dantewada district headquarters owing to the Maoist terror. Unconfirmed reports said the rebels had warned villagers not to allow any jawan to be cremated in their respective village. There are a good number of former Maoist cadres who earlier surrendered and joined as district reserve guards (DRG) personnel. Their areas of operation fall in areas having a strong presence of left-wing guerillas.
The CM was accompanied by the state home minister Tamrdhwaj Sahu, senior officials besides people’s representatives at Karli police line in Dantewada and laid a floral wreath on the coffins of the departed security personnel.
Ten personnel of Dantewada District Reserve Guards (DRG) and a driver were killed after the vehicle they were travelling in was hit by an IED explosion at Aranpur on Wednesday. The blast tossed the vehicle several feet in the air and left an 8-ft deep and 12-ft wide crater-like structure on the road.
Tipped off about the presence of Maoists close to Sameli and Aranpur, a team of DRG had left on anti-Maoist search operations in the region three days ago. They were returning to Dantewada in a private vehicle from Aranpur when the Maoists ambushed the personnel. The attack came after a gap of nearly two years.
The Maoists with a presence in the seven districts of Bastar zone in south Chhattisgarh are waging a virtual war against the security forces and the state for over three decades. Meanwhile, the Maoists credited their military wing People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army with the latest attack. “You are being used as a tool by the Centre and state against enemies of the people,” said the note issued by Sainath, secretary, Darbha Division Committee of the CPI (Maoist).
The Dornapal-Aranpur-Jagargunda route is often cited as Khooni Sadak — the ‘bloodstained road’ as several jawans besides those engaged in the road construction have been killed by Maoists in a decade. The inhospitable area between Aranpur to Jagargunda is surrounded by hillocks.
