25 killed in naxal attack

Dantewara, Chhattisgarh, July 17: At least 25 people were killed and nearly 150 were injured when armed naxalites raided a relief camp, set ablaze houses and abducted scores of tribals from Erabor village, about 130 Kms from here, in the wee hours this morning.

Unconfirmed sources, however, put the death toll at 35 and also indicated that the casualties could be more. Thirty one of the seriously injured were being taken to a hospital at Badrachalam in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh.

Police sources said armed cadres of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) stormed the Erabor relief camp, where nearly 5000 villagers had taken shelter after deserting their villages following threat from the naxalites.

Reports received at the Bastar divisional headquarters Jagdalpur said the Peoples Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) militia axed 15 people to death with sharp edged weapons and also shot two others during attack on relief camp. Five villagers were burnt alive as they set ablaze 300 houses.

The state government had set up relief camps in South Bastar region to provide shelter to more than 65,000 people who had deserted nearly 900 villages following threat from the naxalites.

Most of these relief camps were being developed into villages with the government providing houses to those who were displaced from their villages.

However, the CPI (Maoist) cadres had started targetting these relief camp turned villages to force the people to return to their native villages.

Police sources said Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel, stationed near the relief camp, and the police force deployed there opened retaliatory fire, resulting in an encounter.

Additional security forces, including the para-military, have been rushed to the remote village, located at about 130 kms from Dantewara district headquarters.

Besides, an army helicopter is expected to reach the village to airlift the injured to the hospitals, either in the state capital or to Badrachalam in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, official sources said.

The police spokesman said senior police and administrative officials rushed to the spot and steps were being taken to provide first aid to the injured. Moreover, the para-military forces have launched a combing and search operations in the nearby forests to flush out the naxalite cadres.

UNI