Maoists’ attack trail in the past year
By IANSTuesday, April 6, 2010
NEW DELHI - Tuesday’s attack by hundreds of Maoist guerrillas on a Central Reserve Police Force contingent in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar region, killing more than 70 troopers, is said to be the most brutal. In the past year, around 200 people, mostly security force personnel, have been killed in ten major attacks orchestrated by Maoists.
Here’s a look at the major attacks in the past year.
April 6, 2010: Guerrillas trigger multiple blasts and then fire indiscriminately at a CRPF team in the Chintalnar forested hamlet of Dantewada district, about 450 km south of Raipur, in violence-hit Bastar. The dead include 72 troopers from the 62nd battalion of the CRPF and one state police officer.
April 4, 2010: Maoists detonate powerful landmine and blow up police bus in Koraput district, Orissa. Around 10 Special Operations Group personnel killed and 16 injured.
March 23, 2010: Maoists blast a railway track in Bihar’s Gaya district causing derailment of the Bhubaneswar-New Delhi Rajdhani Express. On the same day, a landmine attack in Orissa leaves an empty freight train derailed hitting services on the Howrah-Mumbai route.
Feb 15, 2010: Around 100 Maoists storm a police camp in Silda, West Bengal, fire indiscriminately and set the camp on fire. Around 24 people are killed as the assailants take off with a huge cache of arms.
Oct 8, 2009 : Seventeen policemen are killed in an ambush by Maoists at Laheri police station in Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra.
July 27, 2009: Six CRPF men killed in a landmine blast at Dantewada district in Chhattisgarh.
July 12, 2009: Three separate attacks in Rajnandgaon district of Chhattisgarh claim the lives of 30 security personnel.
June 23, 2009: A group of motorcycle-borne armed Maoists open fire on Lakhisarai district court premises in Bihar to free four of their men.
June 10, 2009: Nine security personnel including CRPF troopers ambushed by Maoists during a routine patrol in Saranda jungles in Jharkhand.
May 22, 2009: Maoists kill 16 policemen in the jungles of Gadchiroli district in Maharashtra.
April 13, 2009: Around 10 policemen are killed in eastern Orissa’s Koraput district when Maoists attack a state-run bauxite mine.
April 22, 2009: Maoists hijack a passenger train with at least 300 people on board in Jharkhand and force it change direction to Latehar district before fleeing. The incident took place ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.