Six paramilitary troopers killed in Maoist attack in central India

New Delhi - At least six paramilitary troopers were killed and 10 injured Saturday when Maoist rebels blew up their vehicle in India's central Chhattisgarh state, news reports said.

The incident took place in Bijapur district, about 284 kilometers south of the Chhattisgarh capital Raipur, IANS and PTI news agencies reported.

"The Maoists blew up a bullet-proof vehicle in the Koretal forested stretch. At least six CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force) men were killed and a few injured," IANS quoted Chhattisgarh director general of police Vishwa Ranjan as saying.

The rebels had planted an improvised explosive device in the path of the vehicle, police said.

This is the first major attack by Maoist rebels in the state since they killed 76 security personnel in an ambush on April 6 in adjacent Dantewada district.

The mineral-rich, forested Bastar region stretches across both Bijapur and Dantewada districts and is a stronghold of the Maoist rebels.

"It appears that the security personnel ignored the instruction not to travel in any kind of vehicle in the Naxal-infested areas," Chhattisgarh Home Minister Nankiram Kanwar said.

Maoist rebels are often called Naxalites after the Naxalbari area in West Bengal state where the movement first emerged in the late 1960s.

The rebels are known to mine routes along which they expect security forced to travel.

Maoists are active in 200 of India's 626 districts, and virtually control 34, according to the federal Home Ministry.

The rebels claim they are fighting for the rights of the tribal people, the poor and the landless and operate in some of the country's poorest regions.

More than 1,300 people have been killed since January 2009 in violence linked to the Maoist insurgency, which Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has called the gravest internal security threat facing India.

Federal paramilitary forces and state police have launched an operation to weed out the rebels in eight states, including Chhattisgarh, since November 2009.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/322644,six-paramilitary-troopers-killed-in-maoist-attack-in-central-india.html.