By IANS,
Raipur : As many as 26 police personnel posted in Chhattisgarh’s restive Bastar region ended their own lives and 226 officials quit the force in the last seven years, the government said Wednesday.
In a written reply to Congress legislator Kawasi Lakhma, Home Minister Nankiram Kanwar said eight officers of the Chhattisgarh Armed Forces resigned from their jobs while five officers and 75 constables from District Force quit between January 2006 to January 2013.
He said three officers and 20 constables of District Force and three constables of Chhattisgarh Armed Forces killed themselves since 2006 in Bastar.
The Bastar region, spread over about 40,000 square km, is rich in minerals but Maoist guerrillas largely command the forested stretch of the region since late 1980s.
The region, made up of seven districts — Sukma, Dantewada, Bastar, Bijapur, Narayanpur, Kondagaon and Kanker — has witnessed a string of deadly attacks on police and civilians since 2005 that included killing of 76 paramilitary troopers in a single attack in April 2010.