Forces comb C’garh jungles for Naxals

The Centre has rushed 2,000 additional paramilitary force personnel to Chhattisgarh in the wake of the Naxal attack on Congress leaders that claimed 27 lives, including that of PCC chief Nand Kumar Patel.

More than 1,000 security personnel have been pumped into the jungles of the naxal-infested Bastar region for a major offensive against the ultras. ‘Over thousand security men are on a combing operation in the region (Bastar) after the attack on Congress leaders,’ said Director General of Police Ramniwas on Monday.

The decision was taken following a request from the Chhattisgarh government which sought more forces to provide security to political leaders as well as to engage in anti-Naxal operations, official sources said, adding the units will be in the state in a day or two. 

There are around 30,000 paramilitary personnel already deployed in Chhattisgarh mainly for anti-Naxal operations across the state. And, within hours of taking over the case, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday dispatched a team to Chhattisgarh and began its probe into the audacious Maoist strike.

As reports emerged that Maoist politburo member Katakam Sudarshan alias Anand was the mastermind behind the attack, the NIA team flew to Raipur on way to Darbha in Bastar district.

The NIA team, headed by Inspector General of Police Sanjiv Kumar Singh, will investigate the circumstances leading to the attack and find out those Maoists who were involved in it, official sources said. Meanwhile, Congress leader VC Shukla, critically injured in the attack, continues to remain critical and will take time to recover owing to his old age, doctors attending on him here said Monday.

‘He is critical, and recovery will require lot of time because of his age,’ Naresh Trehan, chairman and managing director of Medanta Medicity, said. Shukla, 84, a former union minister, received three bullet injuries in the attack on the Congress leaders’ convoy on Saturday.

Heavily-armed Maoists had ambushed a convoy of Congress leaders in the state’s Bastar district, killing 27 people including PCC chief Patel, his son Dinesh, Congress leader Mahendra Karma and ex-MLA Uday Mudliyar and injuring 32 others, including former Union Minister V C Shukla.