Gadchiroli deputy collector slams Chidambaram

source – ibn

New Delhi: A day after Home Minister P Chidambaram visited Gadchiroli, the deputy collector of the naxal-hit district went on record to say that such high-profile visitors never bring any solutions.
As bureaucrats have been making headlines for being involved in scams, the deputy collector from naxal-affected area in Gadchiroli district Rajendra Kanphade found himself in the eye of the storm by openly criticising the Home Minister.
“One has to know the issues of the people here, from ground. By sitting on a helicopter and planning inside an air conditioned room won’t help. Paramilitary forces should be withdrawn immediately and if necessary, local police can be deployed after providing them better and more facilities,” said Kanphade.
Kanphade also said that the government was using guns instead of focusing on development.
“The Home Minister might have come here to solve the Naxal issue, I assume. It may not be fair to think that by his visit the situation will become better. The issue is being tried to solve using guns while the cause of the issue is development. The Home Minister discussed only about security and not on development. It should be either development of security or security for development,” he said.
Kanpadhe had grabbed headlines a few months ago when he volunteered to enter Maoist-infested Bhamragarh Taluk without security and came back unscathed. Clearly he has made a reputation as a rebel – but with a cause. The question now – will Kanphade be punished for speaking his mind.

Gadchiroli: 6 cops injured as Naxals blast anti-landmine vehicle

source – rediff

Six policemen were on Tuesday injured when Naxals blew up an anti-landmine vehicle and opened indiscriminate fire on them in Perimili area of Gadchiroli district in Maharashtra

The incident occurred around 8:30-9:00 am in Aheri taluka of the district, when the police party was on its way to recover the bodies of four security men, including a CRPF inspector, who were killed in a landmine blast on Monday in the same area.

The Naxals opened fire on the police party, drawing immediate retaliation, leaving six policemen injured. The injured policemen were identified as Ramesh Dalai, Umesh Korame, Imran Sheikh, Suresh Bhalame, Sagar Malgune and S Rohankar.

Korame and Rohankar were brought to Gadchiroli district headquarters for treatment while the remaining were being treated at Aheri, police said.

Four securitymen– CRPF inspector Nivrati Jadhav, two Police Sub Inspectors Shashikant More and Malgune along with a constable Anand Gajaje (Patil)– were killed on Monday after Naxals triggered a landmine blast when they had gone to the weekly market to fetch vegetables in the Perimili area.

Three bodies barring that of Gajaje have been recovered and brought to the district headquarters, police added.

Four securitymen killed as Naxals trigger blast in Gadchiroli

source rediff

Four securitymen, including two Central Reserve Police Force personnel, were killed when Naxalites triggered a powerful improvised explosive device blast in a marketplace in Perilimili village in the Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra when they were out shopping.

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The security personnel were shopping at a local market in the area when the explosion took place at around 4.30 pm, killing two CRPF men and two police officers on the spot.

The two CRPF men have been identified as Inspector Nauroti Yadav and constable Anand Kumar of the 9th battalion of the force, posted in the area for anti-Naxal operations.

Two sub-inspectors of Maharashtra Police — Shashi More and Mahendra Mangul — were also killed in the attack, police said, adding their vehicle was badly damaged in the explosion.

Senior officials said that a rescue team and additional reinforcements have been dispatched to the spot to trace the other policemen who were accompanying them and launch a combing operation to track down the Maoist rebels.

The area falls in Aheri taluka of the district, one of the worst-hit by left wing extremism in the state.

Naxalites gun down 16 cops in Gadchiroli

Mumbai: Maoists struck in Gadchiroli district of the state on Thursday afternoon, killing 16 police personnel, including an inspector, a sub-inspector, and five women constables.This is the first time that women constables in Maharashtra have become victims of a naxal attack.

All the police personnel were posted at Dhanora police station. The incident took place at Hattitola between Erkad and Murumgaon on the busy state highway linking Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh.According to sources, naxalites had called for a bandh (Strike) on Wednesday and Thursday.

The police party led by inspector Ashok Iyer was conducting foot patrolling around 3:30pm when it came across a roadblock. When the team began removing the trees lying across the road, more than 100 naxalites hiding in the forest along the road opened fire. They also blew up a police vehicle that was following the team.The roadblock was a trap for the team.

After the encounter the naxalites fled with the weapons belonging to the police party.Gadchiroli’s superintendent of police Rajesh Pradhan rushed to the spot with reinforcements, but it was too late. It is learnt that information about the ambush could not reach the headquarters at Gadchiroli as wireless sets were not functioning owing to heavy rainfall in the area.

The source said inspector Iyer was earlier posted with the Nagpur (rural) police and served as senior inspector at the Kalmeshwar and the Bhivapur police stations. He was transferred to Gadchiroli on request last year.The state government announced that combing operations would be stepped up in all the naxal-infested areas of Vidarbha. “We will intensify combing operations in the region,” home minister Jayant Patil told reporters. “The operations were in progress after a similar attack earlier this year claimed the lives of 15 policemen, but several security personnel were later deployed for election duty.”

Meanwhile, state director-general of police SS Virk said the inspector who led the 16-member team had not informed any senior officers before setting out and could have been lured into an ambush by the insurgents

Four cops killed in Naxal attack in Gadchiroli

NAGPUR, OCTOBER 26 : After a long lull, Maoists struck in Gadchiroli on Sunday morning, killing four policemen in an ambush near Korepalli village under Rajaram Khanla police station in Aheri tehsil.The Naxalites started firing at the police party, a C-60 commando unit with four officers, which was on a routine patrol in the area, killing four of the 23 policemen on the spot. The deceased policemen have been identified as provisional sub-inspector S R Parekar and constables Vinod Uike, Ajay Maste and Vasant Madavi.

SI Nalawade and constables Gangaram Sidam, Diwakar Gawade, Vikram Thakur and Ganpat Soyam are undergoing treatment at Nagpur.”Their condition is out of danger,” SP Rajesh Pradhan told The Indian Express.

Of late, Naxalites have been active in Etapalli area, where they have burnt a few trucks, damaged a church and killed a man recently. However, the sudden strike in Aheri has startled the police. “They have been trying to engage us since the past few days,” Pradhan said.

Last time Naxalites attacked the police on such a big scale was in 2005 when 14 policemen were killed in two blasts in Gadchiroli and neighbouring Gondia districts. That year as many as 25 police personnel were killed in attacks as against only three Naxalites.