Ahmedabad, 13 April 2014

I strongly condemn the cowardly attack on CRPF personnel and polling staff by Maoists in Chhattisgarh. Democracy has no place for such attack. We salute the brave jawans and polling officials martyred in the attacks while they were performing yeoman service in upholding our democracy. A CRPF jawan from Gujarat’s Aravalli district was among those killed in Chhattisgarh. I salute this martyr, who lost his life defending democracy. So far Maoists were targeting security forces. Now they are targeting civilians, even medical staff. There is no end to their sinister acts. I have always urged Maoists to leave the bullet, join the mainstream and work towards nation building. Sadly their cowardly acts continue.

The incident

The Red brigade carried out two separate strikes within a span of one hour, killing 14 people, including five CRPF men and seven people returning from election duty, in south Chhattisgarh.

It took the Maoists barely 10 minutes to target an ambulance after 10 CRPF personnel boarded it to return to their camps. The rebels detonated a powerful blast at Kamanar near Darbha in Bastar district, about 350 km from state capital Raipur. Five jawans were killed on the spot.

The ambulance was thrown up in the air and landed some 15 metres away from NH-30 where the incident occurred. A four feet deep crater was formed.

CM Raman Singh condemned the attacks by calling it a “cowardly act”.

Another five personnel were injured and were air-lifted to Raipur for advanced medical attention. In the span of 11 months, this is the third major attack by the guerrillas in the Darbha region.

In another blast triggered by the rebels seven poll staffs were killed and five others injured at Ketulnar in Bijapur district. According to Bijapur police, the poll officials were returning from Kutru to the district headquarters in a passenger bus. “After the blast, the Maoists opened fire which was repulsed by the security forces who were deployed nearby for road opening operations,” the police source said.

Sunil Kujur, the Chhattisgarh chief electoral officer, said. The Bastar Lok Sabha poll saw 52 per cent turnout on April 10.