Four cops killed in twin Naxal attacks

While two bodies of Naxals were recovered,the police said at least 10-12 more may have been killed

Four policemen,including a commander of an anti-Naxal commando unit and two special police officers,were killed in two separate Maoist attacks within five hours in Gadchiroli district on Thursday.

While two policemen were injured in the attacks,at least two senior Naxal cadres were killed in retaliatory fire in the early morning encounter near Nargunda village,where Naxals had hijacked a truck carrying CRPF supplies on Sunday.

While two bodies of Naxals were recovered,the police said at least 10-12 more may have been killed. The two incidents occurred within a 30-km radius in Bhamragarh tehsil in the southern part of the district,where Naxals have been active of late.

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At Nargunda,heavily-armed Naxals,numbering about 150-200,attacked a police party which was out on a search patrol for the hijacked truck. In the heavy exchange of fire which lasted for about an hour,Chinna Wenta,a commando unit commander,was killed and two constables,Sadhu Pallo and Shankar Kowate,were injured, said DIG Sunil Ramanand.

Police sources said Wenta,34,who joined the commando unit in 1998,was high on the Naxal hit-list.

The other encounter happened at around 10 am,near Bejur on Alapalli-Bhamragarh road. Naxals attacked a police party that had started digging out a landmine that they had detected while opening the road for operational movements, said Ramanand.

Two SPOs,Sudhakar Mattami and Surendra Kothari,and constable Munshi Pungati,all in their 20s,were killed in the encounter.