Bodies of nine policemen, who were killed in Naxal ambush inside Amamora forest in Chhattisgarh’s Gariabandh police district on Monday afternoon, were on Tuesday recovered by security personnel. However, another policeman, part of the 10-member search party that came under the attack, was still missing. A rescue team
located the bodies at 12 km from the Chhattisgarh border close to Orissa’s Sunabeda reserve forest.
“It was a gory sight as the bodies were dismembered and mutilated. It seems the policemen were first shot dead and then their bodies were hacked into pieces by sharp-edged weapons,” spokesman at police headquarters Rajesh Mishra said.
A government official in Delhi said the personnel became “sitting ducks” for Maoists, adding a small police team travelled into a Maoist-affected zone on a day when there was a “bandh” and did not follow “standard operating procedures”. “What can you do when the security personnel throw all caution to the wind. They had reportedly crossed into the Orissa border where the threat from Maoists is high.”
They also travelled on the same route while coming and going. What is worse, they all sat together in the tractor after their vehicle broke down and became an easy target for the Maoists,” the official said.
Meanwhile, Mr Mishra said a search team has been sent to the area to trace the missing policeman. A probe has been launched by police to ascertain why a small team of 10 policemen had ventured into the Ammamora forest, known as Maoist stronghold, for search operation. Police sources said the search party had risked attack by Maoists by staying put at a place for nearly two hours to repair their vehicle, which broke down on way. This had given enough time to the Naxals to prepare ambush on them.
The search team had left for routine patrol at around 8 AM on Monday and was ambushed at around 3 PM inside Amamora forest when they were returning in a tractor, after their vehicle developed snag.
This was the first time, eastern Chhattisgarh district of Mahasamund witnessed killing of security personnel by Left wing guerrillas. The ultras have been trying to create base in eastern part of the state, after they came under pressure from security forces in Bastar region, southern part of Chhattisgarh.