Raipur/ Khammam, July 10: Twenty four security personnel were killed in a prolonged and intense gun battle with Maoists who were holed up in a jungle in Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh, near the Andhra Pradesh border. It is believed that several Maoists also died in the firing, though the exact count is not known. The gun battle took place about 25 km from Chintoor of Bhadrachalam division in the early hours of Tuesday
There are reports that Sitakka, wife of the Dandakarnya area committee secretary, was among the Maoists killed. Four police personnel suffered serious injuries. The militants took away a number of AK-47s and other weapons abandoned by the fleeing cops. Police sources said that Maoists from Nepal were spotted among the attackers. They were wearing body armour and could not be immobilised even from close quarters.
Meanwhile, tight security was deployed in Bhadrachalam with police checking all vehicles coming from Orissa and Chattisgarh. More police personnel have been posted at various points in Chintoor, Charla, Venkatapuram, Dummugudem and Vazed mandals that border Chhattisgarh. A team of more than 113 security personnel, including officers of the 55th CRPF battalion, the Chhattisgarh police and about 60 volunteers of the anti-Maoist Salwa Judum, had entered the forests of Errabor on Monday morning after getting information that Maoists were holding a secret camp there.
