India: Maoist rebels kill a senior paramilitary officer in a gun battle
Maoist rebels yesterday shot dead a senior paramilitary officer in a fresh gun battle just one week after they killed 24 people, including Congress politicians, in an ambush.
Security forces have been engaged in a long-running and bloody conflict with the outlawed Maoists in central India.
“When a police party was on a combing operation (looking for rebels), Maoists sprayed bullets on them,” police inspector general Ashok Juneja said.
He said an assistant commander of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) was killed in the firing in the Khallari jungle of Dhamtari district, some 150km southwest of Chhattisgarh state capital Raipur.
Last Saturday, the Maoists massacred 24 people, including state Congress Party president Nand Kumar Patel, his son Dinesh and the former leader of opposition, Mahendra Karma.