PM speaks to Chidambaram over Chhattisgarh massacre
By IANSTuesday, April 6, 2010
RAIPUR/NEW DELHI - Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Tuesday spoke to Home Minister P. Chidambaram and sought a detailed report on the killing of 73 troopers by Maoist guerrillas in Chhattisgarh, minutes after getting the news of the worst massacre of security personnel in the country.
The prime minister was outraged by the massacre and sought updates from the home minister, government sources said.
The issue will be discussed in greater detail when the National Security Council meets later in the evening.
In what appeared to be a meticulously planned operation, hundreds of Maoists — one report put the number at about 700 — bombed and fired at the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel as they entered a hilly stretch of forest where the rebels have held sway for decades, running a de facto state.
The massacre took place about 450 km south of the Chhattisgarh capital Raipur. Dantewada is considered a stronghold of the outlawed Communist Party of India-Maoist, which the prime minister says has emerged as the biggest internal security threat.
It was the worst massacre since Maoists stormed an isolated police post in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur district in March 2007 and killed 55 policemen.
