Chhattisgarh: Maoists were armed with LMG; looted weapons of security personnel

A group of an estimated 400 Maoists armed with LMGs had ambushed security forces deployed for a special operation killing at least 22 personnel and injuring 30 others besides decamping with over a dozen sophisticated arms officials said on SundayThe contingent of about 1500 troops was drawn from CRPFrsquos specialised jungle warfare unit CoBRA its regular battalions a unit of its Bastariya battalion the Chhattisgarh Police affiliated District Reserve Guard DRG and others They had launched a search and destroy operation along the border of BijapurSukma district after they got inputs of Maoists presence in the areaA siege was laid at the crack of the dawn on Saturday following intelligence inputs that Naxals were undertaking their Tactical Counter Offensive Campaign TCOC campaign in the JagargundaJongagudaTarrem axis the officials said adding the total strength of security personnel for the operation was 790 and the rest were taken as auxiliary and support elements for the longhaul operationAt least 400 Naxals suspected to be led by the most wanted Maoist commander and leader of the socalled Peoples Liberation Guerrilla Army PLGA battalion no 1 Hidma and his associate Sujatha ambushed the forces in an area that is a stronghold of the Maoists due to the difficult terrain large tracts of forests and a smaller number of security forces camps an officer saidOut of the total 22 fatalities the CRPF has lost eight men including seven CoBRA commandos while one jawan is from the Bastariya battalion and the rest are from DRG and Special Task Force A CRPF Inspector is still missing they saidThe Maoists drew the forces into an ambush with heavy gunfire and encircled the security personnel from three sides A heavy gunbattle ensued in the jungles which are devoid of any foliage at present a senior official told PTIBullets rained from light machine guns LMGs and the Naxals also used lowintensity improvised explosive devices IEDs to mount the attack that continued for several hoursHelicopters which were requisitioned to evacuate the injured personnel could make the first landing only after 5 PM after the gunfire had endedThe security personnel took guard against large trees and kept firing till they ran out of ammunition he addedAt one location he added seven bodies of the troops were recovered and the tree trunks bore bullet shots indicating that a fierce gun battle took place in the areaAbout two dozen sophisticated assault weapons of the slain personnel are also stated to have been looted by the Naxals even as security officials said the search of the area is still on and details are being collected from the groundHe said that the Maoists carried their dead estimated to be about 1012 on tractor trolleysAnother officer posted in Chhattisgarh said the operation was being monitored by two Inspector General IG rank officers of the state police and the Central Reserve Police Force from Jagdalpur in BastarOfficials said while maximum security forces personnel were killed due to bullet shots one is suspected to have fainted and later died due to dehydration and other issuesThe security forces personnel especially CoBRA commandos fought very bravely and ensured that the Naxals could not prolong the ambush despite being at an advantage the officer saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever