Reds kill CRPF officer in fresh violence

Reds kill CRPF officer in fresh violence 50 Personnel Were On A Combing Op When Rebels Fired TIMES NEWS NETWORK  Raipur: An assistant commandant of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) was killed on Saturday in a Maoist firing at village Khallari, about 15km from Nagri town in Dhamtari district of Chhattisgarh.     Police sources said CRPF assistant commandant S K Das was killed in the encounter.     Following a tip-off about the presence of rebels in the area, CRPF 211 battalion’s around 50 personnel were on a combing operation, when the rebels fired indiscriminately, leading to the encounter.      The attack comes a week after the mowing down of Congress leaders and their security personnel. One of them was Mahendra Karma’s personal security officer who died due to his wounds on Saturday, taking the toll up to 30.     “PSO Siyaram Singh, who received serious intestinal injuries in the gun fire, died of multiple organ failure at the hospital,” police sources said.     He had received bullet injuries which caused the infection.     Meanwhile, anti-insurgency operations in and around Darbha is getting hampered by booby traps laid by the Maoists.     Every inch of the land in the area gives an impression that there could be some sort of explosives which might take off if stepped on or even touched.     An example of a booby trap: an effigy of chief minister Raman Singh lay by a tree with a note, “Hamari jan adalat Raman Singh ko fansi ki saja deti hai (our people’s court orders Raman Singh to be hanged till death).     This was near Narayanpur area. Before the effigy could be taken down, a cow began grazing the area and when it got close to it, the effigy exploded, wounding the cow severely.     The effigy was stuffed with explosives.