By IANS,
Raipur: In fresh violence in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar region Wednesday, three policemen were killed in a blast in Dantewada district, while two civilians were murdered in Bijapur district.
Head constable Ramesh Kujur and constables Santosh Yadav and Ashok Markam were killed when Maoists triggered a blast and opened fire as soon as they came out of the Gollappalli police station in Dantewada, some 500 km south of Raipur.
“After hearing the blast and gunshots, policemen came out from the police station and retaliated by firing but Maoists slipped into nearby forests. A search operation is possible only Thursday morning as it is highly risky to venture into the forests after sunset,” an official at the police headquarters here told IANS.
In a separate incident in Bijapur, Maoists killed two tribals and dumped their bodies on a forested roadside.
The victims, Aganpalli Vakka and Rajesh, who were related to each other, were abducted by the rebels a few days ago while they were returning to their village from the district headquarters.
The forested 40,000 sq km Bastar region comprises Dantewada, Bijapur, Narayanpur, Bastar and Kanker districts where 1,750 people have lost their lives in Maoist violence since 2005.