Bodies of policemen killed by Maoists handed over to their families

Bhubaneswar, Feb 18 : Bodies of the slain policemen killed during the on-going combing operations against Maoists in Orissa were handed over to their families on Monday.

The police on Sunday recovered the bodies of Special Operations Group (SOG)ssistant Commandant Pramod Satpathy, personal security to Berhampur Superintendent of Police Sushant Gauda and police sepoy Sanjaya Kumar Panda from the Gasama forest where the encounter was continuing.

It is for the first time that two Indian Air Force (IAF) helicopters are participating in the combing operations against the Maoists. Senior officers of the central home ministry are reported to be coordinating the combing operations.

Meanwhile, the relatives of the policemen are highly agitated. They vowed to take revenge.

"All Maoists should be killed. I must join the SOG police force to kill the Naxals," said Nirmal Satpathy, Satpathy's brother.

Earlier, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik condoled the relatives of death policemen and announced a compensation for their families.

"I announced a compassionate grant of rupees five lakhs for the late assistant commandant and rupees four lakhs each for the sepoy and the constable. They are also entitled to rupees ten lakhs each from insurance one member from each of their families will be offered government job," said Patnaik.

At least 20 Maoists were killed by the security forces during a massive combing operation in five districts of Orissa, including Nayagarh, where 15 people were killed in Friday night's Maoist attack.

The Maoist attack came close on the heels of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh declaring the decades-old Maoist insurgency as the gravest threat to India's internal security.

In a daring and meticulously planned wave of attacks, the ultras virtually laid a siege to the town.

The Naxals, who included women cadres, looted arms and ammunitions from the district armoury and set fire to the police stations and vehicles. The arms looted by the ultras included light machine guns and assault rifles.

ANI