Last week, India witnessed a brutal Maoist attack in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur, in which at least 22 jawans were martyred. The gruesome incident once again brought forth Chhattisgarh's long and violent struggle with the Maoists and the plight that the common people have to face because of the attacks.
On Saturday, the Teklagudam village found itself at the centre of the raging battle between Maoists and the security forces as some of the villagers were allegedly beaten up by the cops, according to a report by Indian Express.
"When we saw the police personnel approach, we locked ourselves in our houses. Those who didn’t, they got beaten up. After a few hours, we heard the noise of heavy firing and we fled," said Bhima Korsa, a resident of the village.
Read: PM Modi must order airstrikes to rid country of Naxals: Martyred CRPF jawan’s son
According to PTI, a senior police official said that the Naxals were strategically positioned on a hillock in front of Tekalguda village and around it.
When the battle ensued, its residents took shelter in the forest, and then to Poovarti, around 30 minutes from the village on the other side of the hills.
Villagers started to trickle back to Teklagudam on Tuesday, two days after the incident, as some of them feared police retaliation, as per the IE report.
Bastar I-G P Sundarraj took note of the accusations and said, "We have no information of villagers being targeted, our forces were engaged in combat with Maoists. I will look into the allegations."
Also read: Chhattisgarh Naxal encounter: Who is Maoist Madvi Hidma?
According to police officials, joint teams of security forces, comprising over 2,000 personnel, launched an anti-Maoist operation in Bijapur and Sukma districts in the South Bastar forests, considered as a Maoist stronghold, on the night of April 2. And it was during the operation, that the teams were ambushed.
The ambush was led by some 400 Maoists who surrounded the jawans from three sides in an area devoid of vegetation and rained on them machine gunfire as well as IEDs for several hours. Some 10-12 Maoists are also believed to have died in the fierce gunbattle that ensued.
Meanwhile, the outlawed CPI (Maoist) has claimed that CoBRA commando Rakeshwar Singh Manhas, who went missing after the ambush in Chhattisgarh's Bastar region, is in captivity of ultras, and asked the state government to appoint interlocutors for his release.
A long-drawn war
The April 2 attack comes after the March 23 incident when five DRG personnel were killed as the Maoists blew up a bus carrying the security personnel with an IED in the Narayanpur district of the state.
On March 21 last year, 17 security personnel were killed in a Naxal ambush in the Minpa area of Sukma district. On April 9, 2019, BJP MLA Bhima Mandavi and four security personnel were killed after Naxals blew up their vehicle with an IED in Dantewada district.
On April 24, 2017, 25 CRPF personnel died in a Naxal ambush in Burkapal area of Sukma district.
In March 2017, 12 CRPF jawans were martyred in a Maoist attack in Sukma district.
In November 2016, two CRPF jawans were injured in a bomb blast triggered by Naxals in the dense forest of Sukma district.
(With PTI inputs)