The 27 CRPF men shot dead by Maoists?one more body was found on Wednesday?in Narayanpur district of Chhattisgarh were ambushed three kilometres short of their camp at Dhaudai, in an area which had been trouble-free so far. The men, according to a senior Chhattisgarh police officer, were returning to the camp after escorting colleagues who had taken leave and simply ?walked into a trap?.
?The security personnel, belonging to the 39th Battalion of the CRPF, were returning to camp on Tuesday afternoon, after dropping colleagues who had proceeded on leave. The road opening party and other security personnel had already covered the areas considered hyper-sensitive. They were close to the camp when the rebels sprung an ambush near Mahimagavdi village. There is a hillock on one side and a rivulet on the other,? the police officer said.
?The rebels unleashed a surprise attack from all sides, like they targeted securitymen near Madanwada in Rajnandgaon on July 16 last year, killing 32 including an SP. But the CRPF men managed to retaliate and engage the rebels. The encounter that continued for more than three hours. Otherwise, the casualties would have been much more,? the officer said.
Additional DGP (Naxal operations) Ramniwas said the police had information that 15-20 Maoists were also killed in the encounter. ?We could not recover the bodies. It is the practice of the Maoists to take away bodies of dead comrades,? he said.
Since the CRPF camp was close to the area, additional reinforcements were rushed in. They managed to remove the bodies of the CRPF men and shift the injured to the camp at night. The injured were airlifted to a Raipur hospital early this morning and three Army helicopters were pressed into service to shift bodies to the Government Medical College Hospital for post-mortem.