Naxalite attack claims 13 lives in Orrisa

Nayagarh, Feb 16 : At least thirteen police personnel, including two women, and a civilian were killed in an attack by Naxalites in Orissa's Nayagarh District late on Friday night.

"A group of some 50 Naxals, including women cadres, with bombs and firearms raided police training school, district police station and armoury around 10:45 pm," said Superintendent of Police, Rajesh Kumar.

"Four policemen were also injured in the gunbattle that continued till around 12:15 am," he added.

One of the policemen killed in the attacks has been identified as ASI Nandpani Misra.

The injured have been shifted to SCG Medical College in Cuttack.

The Naxalites also reportedly looted the Nayagarh armory and the police training school and made away with large cache of arms and ammunition.

Before launching the attack, the Naxals announced that they would not harm the public as their target was the police.

According to sources, the Naxals who attacked the police were speaking in Hindi and Telugu and they suspect that the Naxals were from Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh.

Meanwhile, red alert has been sounded in the state.

This is second major incident of Naxal attack on the police in the last two years.

On March 24, 2006, over 500 heavily armed Maoists, including a large number of women, swooped down in Orissa's R Udayagiri town of Gajapati district, attacked armed police camps, and freed all 40 prisoners in the sub-jail in a replay of similar violence in Madhuban and Jehanabad in Bihar.

ANI