By IANS
Raipur : Chhattisgarh police have ruled out the involvement of Nepal-based Maoists in an encounter in the state's Dantewada district Monday in which 24 policemen including 16 paramilitary troopers of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) were gunned down.
"Nepalese Maoists have strained relationship with the Indian Maoists. We do not see any possibility or evidence of involvement of Nepal-based Maoists in Monday's encounter," Chhattisgarh director general of police Vishwaranjan told reporters in Dantewada district Wednesday during a visit to the area.
Vishwaranjan, who took charge July 5, was commenting on reports of some policemen in Dantewada that Maoists who looked like Nepalese were seen engaged in the gun battle.
Police officials said the majority of the Maoist militants involved in the gun battle wore bullet-proof jackets and helmets.
"The intensity and design of the battle and the arms and equipment used such as mortar, indicate combing teams fought Monday with a military wing of the Maoists' Peoples Liberation Guerilla Army, but nothing can be said with certainty," a senior officer posted at police headquarters, Raipur told IANS Thursday.
Meanwhile, the corpses of 13 of the 16 CRPF men who were from outside Chhattisgarh were sent to Delhi late Wednesday by a plane while three bodies were sent to Maharashtra by road.