Maoists ambush Congress Party Officials in India

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Maoists ambush Indian Congress Party Officials...

Maoist Attack in India Kills Congress Party Officials
May 26, 2013 - Indian officials have expressed outrage over an attack by Maoist rebels on a convoy of ruling Congress party members that left at least 23 people dead.

Saturday's attack targeted the politicians as they left a campaign event in the eastern state of Chhattisgarh. Congress Party Chief Sonia Gandhi denounced the ambush as a "cowardly attack". Gandhi arrived in the state capital, Raipur, Sunday, along with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to visit the dozens injured. Both vowed that the government will take firm action against those responsible for the attack.

Police say the rebels triggered a landmine on Saturday afternoon before opening fire on the convoy of Congress Party workers in the densely forested Sukma area of Chhattisgarh state. Among those killed was state party official Mahendra Karma, who founded a local militia (Salwa Judum) to combat Maoist rebels. Also killed were state Congress party chief Nand Kumar Patel and his son. The Congress party is the main opposition party in the state, which holds elections later this year.

The rebels have been fighting the central government for more than four decades, demanding land and jobs for tenant farmers and the poor. Thousands have been killed in their insurgency.

Maoist Attack in India Kills Congress Party Officials

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Death toll from Maoist ambush in India rising
RESURGING INSURGENTS: The bomb and gun ambush was the deadliest attack by the Maoists in more than a year, with 23 confirmed dead and at least 32 gravely hurt

The death toll from an ambush by Maoist rebels in central India rose to at least 23, with senior politicians among the victims in the deadliest attack by the insurgents in more than a year, a top police officer said yesterday. Saturday’s attack was the latest in a long simmering conflict that pits the militants against authorities in the forests and rural areas of mainly central and eastern India. “The total number of dead now stands at 23. We can also confirm that 32 people are injured, most of them seriously,” Chhattisgarh State Police Director-General Ramniwas, who goes by one name, told reporters.

Chhattisgarh Pradesh State Congress President Nand Kumar Patel, his son and former home minister of Chhattisgarh Mahendra Karma — who had set up a controversial anti-insurgent group in 2005 — were among those killed in the bomb and gun attack in a remote tribal belt of Chhattisgarh. Former federal Cabinet minister Vidya Charan Shukla has been airlifted to New Delhi in a “serious” condition, Indian National Congress Party Vice President Rahul Gandhi told reporters after flying to the state capital, Raipur, late on Saturday. The Congress Party is the main opposition in the state, which is run by the Bhartiya Janata Party.

Congress President Sonia Gandhi condemned the incident Saturday as “shocking” and said the party was pained by the attack on its colleagues. “Naturally we are devastated ... It is despicable that ordinary people engaged in political activity were attacked,” she told reporters in New Delhi after an emergency meeting with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Singh, who has described the Maoists as the country’s most serious internal security threat, urged the state authorities to provide all possible assistance to those who have been injured. “Such incidents go against the democratic values of our country. Government will take firm action against the perpetrators of violence of any kind,” he said in a statement.

In 2009, government forces launched a huge anti-Maoist offensive known as “Operation Green Hunt,” but the often poorly trained police have had to contend with a deadly series of attacks. Three policemen were killed two weeks ago when Maoists launched an overnight attack on a state-run broadcaster in Chhattisgarh. A week ago, a policeman and eight villagers were killed in a shootout between rebels and security forces. Eleven policemen were killed in March last year in a landmine blast in western Maharashtra State, close to the border with Chhattisgarh.

Death toll from Maoist ambush in India rising - Taipei Times

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Sonia Gandhi 'devastated' by India Chhattisgarh ambush
26 May 2013 - The president of India's Congress Party, Sonia Gandhi, has said she is "devastated" by Saturday's attack on party officials in Chhattisgarh state.

At least 24 people were killed, including Chhattisgarh Congress chief Nandkumar Patel, his son, and local leader Mahendra Karma, when suspected Maoist rebels ambushed their convoy. Mrs Gandhi visited some of the wounded with PM Manmohan Singh on Sunday. The prime minister said India would "never bow down" before the rebels. He denounced the "barbaric attack" which he said should be an inspiration in the fight against extremism and violence. Unconfirmed reports said they were unable to visit the scene of the attack because of security concerns.

'Firm action'

The convoy carrying state Congress leaders and party workers was ambushed at around 17:30 (10:00 GMT) on Saturday as it travelled through the Darba Ghati valley, in the Sukma area about 345km (215 miles) south of Raipur, following a campaign rally. Police said the convoy was first forced to stop by felled trees on the road. At least one vehicle at the front of the convoy was then hit by a land-mine blast before as many as 200 suspected rebels opened fire, they added. The main target of the attack is believed to have been Nandkumar Patel, who witnesses said jumped into a ditch with his son, Dinesh, to take shelter before they were abducted. Their bodies were later found nearby; the Congress chief was reportedly mutilated.

Mr Karma was found dead at the scene. A former home minister in Chhattisgarh, he founded the Salwa Judum, a local militia given the task of fighting the Maoists which has been accused of abuses. Former federal minister Vidya Charan Shukla was among the 32 people wounded in the ambush, many of them seriously, police said. He was taken to hospital outside Delhi where his condition was described as stable. Mrs Gandhi denounced the "dastardly attack" on India's democratic values, words reiterated by the prime minister as they visited Raipur. "Those who have lost their lives in this barbaric attack are martyrs of democracy," Mr Singh tweeted from Raipur, where many of the wounded are being treated.

Maoist rebels, also known as "Naxalites", have been operating in central and eastern India for the past four decades. They demand land and jobs for the poor, and ultimately want to establish a "communist society" by overthrowing India's "semi-colonial, semi-feudal" form of rule. After attending an emergency meeting in Delhi with the prime minister, Mrs Gandhi described the attack in Chhattisgarh as "shocking". "Naturally, we are devastated," she told reporters. "It is despicable that ordinary people engaged in political activity were attacked." The prime minister had also spoken by telephone to Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh and promised him all "necessary aid". "Government will take firm action against the perpetrators of violence of any kind," he said in a statement.

BBC News - Sonia Gandhi 'devastated' by India Chhattisgarh ambush