By IANS,
Nagpur: The central government has sent 20 additional companies of the paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) to hunt down the Maoists responsible for the massacre of 17 policemen in Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli district Thursday, a police officer said Saturday.
“They are expected to reach here later this (Saturday) evening and will help us to flush out the Maoists who may have spread out in the region,” Gadchiroli Superintendent of Police S. Jayakumar told IANS.
Gadchiroli is 180 km from here.
Two helicopters have also been deployed for carrying aerial surveys over the district that is spread over 15,000 square km and two more helicopters shall join soon, he added.
The ambush Thursday occurred about a kilometre from Laheri village when a police patrol was passing through thick forests in search of hidden Maoists. More than 150 Maoists took part in the attack, taking the victims by surprise.
The authorities have launched a massive search operation to track down the rebels, who are believed to be hiding in the thick forested region which is ideal for hit-and-run operations.
Besides the CRPF troops, several teams of policemen drawn from Gadchiroli and its neighbouring districts, as well the crack Anti-Naxalite Squad (ANS), are involved in the operations, Jayakumar said.
“We have managed to identify the specific group of Naxals (Maoists) who were involved in the attack,” Jayakumar said.
However, he declined to give an estimate of the number of rebels suspected to be hiding in the jungles.
“This is because we are in the thick of the Naxal-affected areas of central India. We are very close to the southwestern border with Chhattisgarh. The terrain is tough, with dense forests, posing a challenge to the security forces,” Jayakumar explained.
Meanwhile, the last rites of all 17 police personnel who were killed have been performed by their respective families, he said.
Among the victims of the C-60 Team were 10 commandos of the Maharashtra Police, six constables and a sub-inspector, Chandrashekhar Deshmukh, who headed the team.
Thursday’s attack was the third and most brutal Maoist attack in the state in 2009.