New Delhi: Maoists blew up a police van carrying prisoners in Chhattisgarh’s Kondagaon district, about 220 km from Raipur, Saturday afternoon killing a head constable and injuring 24 people, some of them cops.
The attack occurred on the second day of a Protest Week being observed by the Maoists from June1 1-7.
Around 2.30pm, a landmine planted on a bridge on National Highway 30 ripped through the police van carrying 19 undertrials and six policemen. They were returning from Kondagaon court to Jagdalpur Central Jail. The blast site is about 24 km from Kondagaon district headquarters and about 15 km from Dhamtari police station.
Five seriously injured policemen were flown to Raipur for treatment. Head constable Virendra Shome, a resident of Jagdalpur, was sitting beside the driver, police said. He died in hospital.
“The undertrials in the van are members of Maoist sanghams. They have cases related to Maoist violence against them,” said Kondagaon police superintendent Prashant Agarwal. Police suspect Maoists cadres of the East Bastar Divisional Committee triggered the blast, possibly in an attempt to free their comrades.
On May 17, Maoists targeted Chhattisgarh minister Lata Usendi’s house in Kondagaon and killed a policeman on guard. After the attack, then Kondagaon SP Deepak Jha was transferred and Agarwal replaced him.
Since Sukma collector Alex Paul Menon’s abduction in April, there has been a spate of violence in Chhattisgarh. Last week, Union home secretary R K Singh visited Chhattisgarh to assess the situation. He promised more Central paramilitary forces following a request by the state police. Chhattisgarh is expected to get at least two more battalions of Central forces for anti-Maoist operations soon, said a source
The attack occurred on the second day of a Protest Week being observed by the Maoists from June1 1-7.
Around 2.30pm, a landmine planted on a bridge on National Highway 30 ripped through the police van carrying 19 undertrials and six policemen. They were returning from Kondagaon court to Jagdalpur Central Jail. The blast site is about 24 km from Kondagaon district headquarters and about 15 km from Dhamtari police station.
Five seriously injured policemen were flown to Raipur for treatment. Head constable Virendra Shome, a resident of Jagdalpur, was sitting beside the driver, police said. He died in hospital.
“The undertrials in the van are members of Maoist sanghams. They have cases related to Maoist violence against them,” said Kondagaon police superintendent Prashant Agarwal. Police suspect Maoists cadres of the East Bastar Divisional Committee triggered the blast, possibly in an attempt to free their comrades.
On May 17, Maoists targeted Chhattisgarh minister Lata Usendi’s house in Kondagaon and killed a policeman on guard. After the attack, then Kondagaon SP Deepak Jha was transferred and Agarwal replaced him.
Since Sukma collector Alex Paul Menon’s abduction in April, there has been a spate of violence in Chhattisgarh. Last week, Union home secretary R K Singh visited Chhattisgarh to assess the situation. He promised more Central paramilitary forces following a request by the state police. Chhattisgarh is expected to get at least two more battalions of Central forces for anti-Maoist operations soon, said a source
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