In their deadliest attack, Maoists in India, also known as Naxalites, have killed at least 73 personnel of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in Dantewada district of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh on Tuesday.
The attack took place when the forces consisting of around 120 personnel were returning to their base camp on Tuesday morning when the Naxalite guerrillas ambushed the troopers of 62nd battalion, reports said.
The attack took place in the dense jungles of the remote Dantewade district, an area inhabited by impoverished indigenous people, where the rebels have established their stronghold, news reports said.
"We have confirmation of 73 deaths in the attack. At least two dozen have been injured," Reuters quoted Amresh Mishra, a senior police officer, as saying.
The ambush of the highly trained CRPF troop marks the deadliest attack yet by Maoist rebels against security forces.
Meanwhile, P. Chidambaram, India's home minister, said he was "deeply shocked" by the toll in the Maoist attack.
"Something has gone very wrong," he told journalists in New Delhi. "They seem to have walked into a trap set by the Naxalites." He added that the ambush "shows the savage nature of the CPI-Maoists, their brutality, and the savagery, which they are capable of".
Authorities said the death toll may rise further, that rescue efforts were being hampered by the difficult terrain, and that rebels had also dug up the roads leading into the area.
The attack comes a few days after Maoist rebels killed 11 CRPF personnel in the forested Koraput district of mineral-rich Orissa state and two months after they killed 24 state police officers in West Bengal after overrunning a poorly guarded police camp, reports said
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