3 police commandos killed in combing ops
The incident took place in the dense forest areas of Penugolu gutta hills, which form part of the Karreguttalu hillocks of Bijapur district in Chhattisgarh
Hyderabad Three commandos belonging to the Greyhounds, the elite anti-extremist wing of the Telangana Police, were killed and three others sustained injuries in an improvised explosive device (IED) explosion triggered by Maoists at Venkatapuram village in Mulug district, bordering Chhattisgarh, on Thursday, officers aware of the matter said.
The incident took place in the dense forest areas of Penugolu gutta hills, which form part of the Karreguttalu hillocks of Bijapur district in Chhattisgarh, they added.
According to preliminary reports, the Greyhounds teams were engaged in a combing operation in the dense forests of Venkatapuram, following reports that some Maoist cadres were regrouping in Venkatapuram-Vajedu forest area.
The deceased were identified as Reserve Sub-Inspector (RSI) Ranadheer and constables Sandeep and Pawan Kalyan. “Their bodies have been shifted to MGM Hospital Mortuary in Warangal for post-mortem examination,” a police officer in Mulug district said requesting anonymity.
Senior police officers, including Telangana director general of police (DGP) Anjani Kumar and Greyhounds director general (DG) Stephen Raveendra, arrived at the hospital to pay their respects, the officer added.
A few weeks ago, pamphlets were found in the surrounding villages of Venkatapuram, in which Maoists warned of planting landmines around the hill ranges to prevent security forces from combing the area, he said.
“As the Greyhound forces were checking for landmines in the forests and working to neutralise the explosives, the Maoists blew up one of the IEDs planted there, resulting in the deaths of the three personnel and injuries to three others. Simultaneously, an exchange of fire broke out between the Maoists and the Greyhounds personnel, following which the Maoists retreated into the forests,” the official said.
“High-level meetings were held to assess the security situation and adapt the strategy in the region,” the official added.
The incident occurred under Wazeedu police station limits in the district at around 6 am when the police teams comprising Mulugu police and Greyhounds units were engaged in combing operations in the area, police said.According to Director General of Police (DGP) Jitender, the armed cadres of banned CPI (Maoist) had planted Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) in the forest areas under Venkatapuram, Wazeedu and Perur police station limits of Mulugu district.The Maoists had issued a statement recently that they had planted bombs in the area and warned ‘Adivasis’ and others against moving around in the area.To unearth the IEDs planted by Maoists, the police personnel had started combing the area from May 7 night and trying to diffuse explosives from Thursday morning, Jitender said.
While the Nugur forest area located around four kms northeast of Penugolu village, falling under Wazeedu Police station limits was being searched, a group of 35-40 banned CPI (Maoist) extremists, including women armed with deadly weapons waiting in ambush, triggered landmines from a distance followed by heavy gunfire targeting the patrol and search party, the DGP said in a release.The firing by armed Maoists continued indiscriminately with an intention to kill the police personnel, the DGP said adding the Maoists stopped firing and ran away when the police personnel shot at them in self-defense.In the incident, three commandos of Greyhounds sustained firearm injuries and died, he said.
