NEW DELHI, 16 March 2007 — At least 55 policemen were killed yesterday in a Maoist attack on a police outpost in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh.
During a largely one-sided gunbattle that began a 2 a.m. and lasted until around 6.30 in the morning, Maoist rebels attacked the isolated post in Rani Bodli in Dantewade district. There were 78 policemen at the camp when it was attacked.
Around 400 rebels, including women, opened the attack with petrol bombs and other explosives and followed it up with rounds of gunfire. Most police officers were asleep when the attack began.
“The heavily armed Naxalites (Maoists) surrounded the camp and opened indiscriminate fire, clearing the way for senior cadres including women to storm it,” a senior police officer was quoted as saying by a news agency.
By the time reinforcements arrived, the attackers had escaped with a cache of arms and explosives. The Maoists booby-trapped some of the policemen’s bodies.
Bodies of five of the raiders were found. About a dozen injured policemen were taken to hospital.
“It was a surprise attack,” Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh said while informing the state assembly of the raid. Though a major hunt had been launched to catch the rebels, “(security) forces are finding it difficult to move fast as the area has a lot of land mines planted by the extremists,” Raman Singh said.
In Delhi, federal Home Minister Shivraj Patil condemned the incident and conveyed his sympathies to the families of the dead policemen. Patil spoke to Raman Singh by telephone and assured the state government of all possible assistance.
Patil said that such incidents would not weaken the government’s resolve to deal with the Maoist problem, according to an official spokesman. A helicopter has been sent to the state to evacuate the injured, he said.
