As many as 16 policemen were killed after Maoists triggered an IED device in Lendari in Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli district on Wednesday. Maoists ambushed the policemen after the vehicle (MH33T0483) they were travelling in was blown up due to the impact of the blast. A total of twenty-five commandos were travelling in the vehicle. Reports said a fierce gunbattle is still going on between the forces and Maoists in Gadchiroli. After the attack, the state has cancelled the Maharashtra Day celebrations in view of the tragedy.
In the morning, the Maoists torched 27 machines and vehicles on a road construction site in Kurkheda in Gadchiroli. The incident took place when the commandos from the C60 unit were going to inspect the vehicles set ablaze by the Maoists. The attack is the second one in 24 hours.
It seems the Maoists want to disrupt the ongoing 2019 Lok Sabha election as they are intimidated by the recent development which will obliterate their presence in. Gadchiroli is considered as a strong Maoist hub.
The Maoists were observing a week-long protest to mark the first anniversary of 40 of their comrades who were killed by security forces on April 22, 2018.
On April 9, they had killed 40-year-old BJP MLA Bheema Mandavi, who was the Dantewada representative, and four private security personnel in an ambush in Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh. The assailants set off an explosive device in Dantewada district before opening fire on survivors, the police said. The C-60 commandos, conceptualised by then additional DG KP Raghuvanshi when he was SSP of Gadchiroli in 1989-90, played a key role in eliminating the 39 Maoist cadre in two encounters in the same area. The unit has a tagline ‘Veerbhogya Vasundhara’ or (The Brave Rule the World).
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the sacrifice of the policemen will not go in vain and the perpetrators of the cowardly attack will be punished. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has apprised Home Minister Rajnath Singh about the situation in Gadchiroli while NCP chief Sharad Pawar demanded his resignation over the tragic death of 16 policemen.
Subodh Jaiswal, DGP Maharashtra, said they are prepared to give a befitting reply to this attack (Gadchiroli attack) and operations are going on in the area to ensure that no further casualties take place.
Governor C Vidyasagar Rao cancelled the 59th Maharashtra Day reception which was scheduled to be held at Raj Bhavan, Mumbai, today evening.
