Maoist Attack

LS polls: 5K electors to cast votes for first time at former Maoist hotbed

Around 5,000 electors from 'Budha Pahad'--a former Maoist hotbed --will cast their votes at their own booths for the first time after several decades in Lok Sabha polls, an election official said on Saturday. Located along Jharkhand's Latehar and Garhwa districts, Budha Pahad was freed recently from the red rebels' control by security forces after over three decades. There are five polling stations in Budha Pahad comprising around 5,000 voters. Earlier, these booths were used to be relocated to safe areas in view of Maoist activities, the official said. Jharkhand Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) K Ravi Kumar along with senior police officers on Friday visited the difficult terrain of Budha Pahad, which falls under Palamu Lok Sabha constituency, and took stock of the facilities extended to the voters. The Palamu constituency will go to the polls on May 13. Kumar visited the polling booths and also talked to voters and polling officials. "The voters here will exercise their franchise

397 Maoists arrested, 9 killed, 26 surrendered in J'khand this year: Police

Jharkhand police on Friday said 397 Maoists were arrested, nine killed, and 26 surrendered before security forces across the state this year. A special area committee member, a regional committee member, five zonal commanders, and 11 sub-zonal commanders were among those arrested. These individuals had a combined bounty of Rs 1.01 crore on their heads, a statement said. Police also seized 152 arms, including 27 police weapons, 10,350 ammunition, and 244 Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) over the past 12 months. The state police headquarters released the data on the occasion of the Hemant Soren government's four-year anniversary. Police said over the past four years, 1,617 Naxals have been arrested, including members from banned outfits such as CPI (Maoist), People's Liberation Front of India (PLFI), Tritiya Sammelan Prastuti Committee (TSPC), and Jharkhand Jan Mukti Parishad (JJMP). Since January 1, 2020, a total of 74 Maoists surrendered before the security forces, and 792 arms

Maoists blow up portion of railway tracks in Jharkhand, 13 trains cancelled

Members of the banned CPI (Maoist) blew up a portion of railway tracks in Jharkhand's West Singhbhum district, disrupting train services on the Howrah-Mumbai route for several hours, police said on Friday. At least 13 trains were cancelled and one has been diverted due to the incident, a railway official said. The incident occurred late Thursday night in the Chakradharpur division of South Eastern Railway between Mahadevsal and Posoita stations, around 150 km from the state capital Ranchi, West Singhbhum Superintendent of Police Ashutosh Sekhar said. "Security has been tightened in the locality. The repair work on the railway tracks has been started from early morning," he said, adding that Maoists also put up banners and posters in the area. Chakradharpur Division Assistant Commercial Manager Vinit Kumar told PTI that train operations in the division have been restored around 9 am on Friday. Around 10:08 pm on Thursday, an explosion occurred between Mahadevsal and Posoita station

In past 9 years, incidents of Maoist violence declined by 52%: Amit Shah

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday accused the Congress of encouraging Naxalism and claimed that incidents of Naxal violence have come down by 52 per cent in the nine-year rule of the Narendra Modi government. Addressing a rally in Jagdalpur in poll-bound Chhattisgarh, Shah urged people to bring the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to power in the state currently ruled by the Congress, promising that his party will make the entire state free of the Naxal menace. He claimed that if the Congress comes back to power in Chhattisgarh, the money sent from the Centre for the state's development will be "diverted to Delhi through the 'ATM' of Congress". Polling for the 90 assembly seats in Chhattisgarh is scheduled to be held in two phases on November 7 and 17 and votes will be counted on December 3. Shah said the people of Chhattisgarh will celebrate Diwali thrice - once on the day of the festival, second when the BJP will be elected to power on December 3, and third when the construct

BJP official murdered by suspected Maoists in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur

A local Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) functionary has been killed by suspected Maoists in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district, police said on Thursday. The body of Kaka Arjun (52) was found on Wednesday evening on Kongupalli-Ilmidi road in Bijapur, located more than 400 km from state capital Raipur, they said. Arjun was the secretary of BJP Bijapur district unit's Scheduled Tribe wing, as per the party. The opposition BJP in the state termed it as a "targeted" killing and demanded a high-level probe into it while claiming Maoists had protection of the ruling Congress. However, the Congress condemned the incident and said the BJP should not politicise it. Arjun, who served as the sarpanch (head) of Ilmidi village panchayat between 2016-2020, had gone to Semaldodi village with his wife on his motorcycle after being called by someone at around 10 am on Wednesday, Bijapur Additional Superintendent of Police Chandrakant Gavarna. After reaching there, he dropped his wife and went inside a f

IED used in Dantewada blast planted by Naxalites 2 months ago: Police

The Chhattisgarh police on Friday said the powerful improvised explosive device (IED) that exploded killing 10 policemen and a civilian driver in Dantewada had been planted by Naxalites at least two months ago. The explosive, however, remained undetected during the demining exercise conducted a day before the attack on Wednesday, they said. Ten personnel, belonging to the District Reserve Guard (DRG) of police, and a civilian driver were killed after Naxalites blew up a multi-utility vehicle (MUV), which was part of a convoy carrying security personnel in Aranpur police station area of Dantewada on Wednesday afternoon. The incident occurred around 1 km from Aranapur police station on the road that goes to Dantewada district headquarters. The preliminary investigation suggests that the IED was planted at least two months ago or before it. The grass had grown on the layer of soil under which the wire, which was connected to the explosive, was concealed, Inspector General of Police ..

Maoists strike big in poll-bound Chhattisgarh, 119 cops killed in 5 years

The incident occurred in the Aranpur area when the DRG team was returning to its district headquarters in Dantewada between 1 p.m. and 1:30 pm

Cabinet approves National Medical Devices Policy 2023: Mansukh Mandaviya

Briefing the media after the Cabinet meeting, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said the National Medical Devices Policy will promote domestic production of medical devices

Maoists torch 4 vehicles engaged in mining work in Chhattisgarh's Kanker

Maoists set four vehicles on fire at an iron ore mine in Chhattisgarh's Kanker district on Monday, police said. No one was injured in the incident, they said. A group of Maoists reached near the Chargaon iron ore mine of a private firm in Siksod police station area in the wee hours and torched two trucks and as many sports utility vehicles (SUV) which were parked there, a police official said. Out of the four vehicles, the two trucks and an SUV were engaged in mining-related work, he said. After torching the vehicles, Maoists fled into a forest, he said. A police team rushed to the spot in the morning and a search operation was launched to nab the culprits, the official said. Maoists have in the past also burnt vehicles engaged in mining-related work in the area.

Three CRPF personnel killed in Maoist attack in Odisha's Nuapada

The incident happened in Patadhara Reserve Forest in Bheden block when the CRPF personnel were going from one camp to another, police said

Left wing extremism: What's the truth behind Congress' Naxal attacks claim?

Congress had claimed that 5,213 Naxal incidents and 1,416 civilian deaths have been reported since Amit Shah became the Union Minister for Home Affairs

Naxals ready to release abducted jawan, ask for govt mediators to negotiate

Maoist issued an open letter mentioning its willingness to negotiate with the government. The banned outfit also proposed the Centre announce mediators in order to release the captivated jawan

Kerala CM condemns Maoist attack on security personnel at Chhattisgarh

: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Sunday condemned the Maoist attack in Chhattisgarh in which at least 22 security personnel were killed and 30 others injured.

Maoist ambush kills 17 jawans in Sukma of Chhattisgarh

Taking advantage of the situation, the rebels---who had taken position comfortably---targeted jawans and inflicted a major casualty.

UP's Maoist-affected districts near Nepal on alert after Gadchiroli blast

Many Lok Sabha constituencies of Indo-Nepal border district that fall in the red zone are yet to witness polling

BJP MLA's killing forces Chhattisgarh Govt to redesign Maoist strategy

CM Bhupesh Baghel had said soon after forming govt that Maoist problem cannot be solved with bullets

At least 100 Naxals suspected to be involved in Dantewada attack: Police

Police have also recovered a GPS device of Naxals from the site in which the rebels had set the location of the Improvised Explosive Device (IED) used in the incident

BJP MLA, 4 security personnel killed in Maoist attack in Chhattisgarh

Maoists blew up an improvised explosive device Dantewada legislator Bhima Mandavi's convoy was passing through the district, Hindustan Times reported quoting the police