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Maoist Rebels Kill Indian Police Officers in Ambush
NEW DELHI More than two dozen police officers and a rural police chief were killed in two attacks by Maoist guerrillas on Sunday in Raj Nandgaon, a district in the violence-plagued state of Chattisgarh in India. The attacks were the deadliest in what has been a grim year in the decades-long, on-and-off struggle between Maoist fighters, known as Naxalites, and the Indian government.The rebels have expanded their grip over vast areas of central and eastern India, claiming to be fighting for the rights of landless peasants and laborers in rural areas left behind by Indias rapid economic growth. They have been flexing their muscles in several parts of India, fighting government troops and killing hundreds of soldiers, police officers and civilians each year for the last few years. Indias government last month banned the Maoist political party, with which the rebels are affiliated, after beginning a broad offensive against the rebels in several important states. Pawan Dev, a deputy inspector general of the Chattisgarh police, said in a telephone interview that 27 officers were killed in two attacks. Two officers were killed in the first attack, and the rebels ambushed officers who had rushed to respond to it, Mr. Dev said. The district police chief, V. K. Chaubey, was one of those who died, Mr. Dev said. This year, 148 people have been killed in Maoist violence in Chattisgarh, according to government officials. Posted by: Steve White 2009-07-13 |
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