A day after killing seven policemen in an ambush in Chhattisgarh’s Sukma district, the Naxals allegedly set ablaze at least 17 vehicles engaged in mining work in insurgency-hit Kanker district on Sunday, police said. However, no one was injured in the incident, they said.
A group of armed Naxals raided the Barbaspur iron ore mining site under the limits of Korar police station and after threatening the labourers, they torched 17 vehicles engaged in mining work, said Kanker Superintendent of Police Jitendera Singh Meena. After torching the vehicles, the Maoists fled into the forest, he said.
On getting information about the incident, a police team was immediately rushed to the spot, which found the vehicles, including trucks, mining machineries and JCB, burnt, he said.
A search operation has been launched in the region to nab the ultras involved in the incident, the SP added.
The extremists are reportedly opposing ore mining in the area being carried out by Neco Jayaswal Company. Four officials of Neco Jayaswal company, including a general manager, were kidnapped on April 1 by Naxals from a separate ore reserve – Chargaon in Kanker district. However, they were later released the same day.
Meanwhile, more than 24 hours after the attack, the police on Sunday retrieved the bodies of seven STF personnel killed in a Naxal ambush in Polampalli forests in the insurgency-hit Sukma district of Chhattisgarh on Saturday.Although bad weather and hostile terrain had hampered the evacuation operation this morning, the security forces finally recovered the bodies of the martyrs.
Amid heavy security, the bodies of the Special Task Force personnel were taken to Kankerlanka camp (around 12 kms from the ambush spot), said Additional Director General of Police (anti- naxal operations) RK Vij. “From Kankerlanka, the bodies will be airlifted to Jagdalpur district headquarter, where tribute would be paid to the martyrs,” Vij added.
Apart from killing the STF personnel, the rebels also looted their weapons. “Due to prolonged
gun-battle, bodies of the martyred personnel could not been retrieved from the forests yesterday, whereas bad weather and hostile terrain affected the evacuation operation this morning,” he said.