A deadly ambush by Naxals has claimed the lives of as many as 26 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) Jawans. The gruesome attack took place on Monday in Chhattisgarh’s Sukma district. Another seven CRPF personnel are still missing while four are injured. The CRPF Jawans belong to the 74 battalion. According to reports, Maoists ambushed the CRPF patrol on Monday afternoon and killed them. This is the worst Maoist attack in years.
As per the reports, the CRPF Jawans were around 150 while the Naxals were close to 300.
The killed CRPF Jawans were deployed on patrol between Chintagufa and Burkapal to provide security to the road building projects. Confirming the tragedy, CRPF headquarters in New Delhi said that the attack took place at 12:30pm at Kala Pathar near Chintagufa. The assault took place when Chhattisgarh chief minister Raman Singh was in Delhi to attend the NITI Aayog governing body meet, and he flew back immediately after learning about the attack. He is expected to meet the CRPF officers and assess the ground situation.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has sharply reacted to the incident. He called it as cowardly and deplorable and said that the government is closely monitoring the situation.