By IANS,
Raipur : Armed Maoists ambushed a security forces patrol, killing nine Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel, including an officer and injuring eight troopers, in Chhattisgarh’s restive Bastar region Friday. Three ultras were also gunned down.
The police said over 100 Maoists, armed with AK-47s, ambushed a joint CRPF and District Forces patrol in a forested village in Dantewada district’s Chintagufa area, about 445 km south of capital Raipur.
“It was an ambush. Nine CRPF men, including a deputy commandant Diwakar, were killed and eight other personnel received bullet wounds in a three-hour long gun battle that ended around 3.30 p.m.,” Rahul Sharma, Dantewada district superintendent of police, told IANS.
Those killed and injured belong to the 55th battalion of the CRPF, the official said.
Pawan Deo, deputy inspector general, police headquarters, said most of the injured personnel, including an assistant commandant, were taken to Dornapal in Dantewada while a few were shifted to a government hospital at Jagdalpur town in Bastar district.
Maoists have stepped up violence in the state since the announcement of Lok Sabha polls last month and ordered people to stay away from the poll process.