Bastar District

CoBRA jawan Rakeshwar Singh Manhas who was kidnapped by the Naxals during Bijapur attack on April 3, has been released by them.

Rakeshwar Singh Manhas had gone missing after a gun battle between the security forces and Maoists on April 3. Three days later, the Maoists had said the jawan was in their custody.

The Maoists' counter offensive strategy is bound to fail in the region, says a senior officer

Constable Rakeshwar Singh Manhas of the 210th CoBRA battalion, an elite unit of CRPF, had gone missing after the gunfight along the border of Sukma and Bijapur districts last Saturday.

The five-year-old daughter of a CoBRA commando has appealed for the release of her father, reportedly held hostage by Maoists in Chhattisgarh after an ambush on Saturday, news agency Press Trust of India reported.

India News: NEW DELHI: Even as the country continues to shudder at the killing of 23 securitymen by Maoists in Bastar on Saturday, the shadow of death lingers ove.

Hidma's battalion operates in districts of South Bastar, Bijapur, Sukma and Dantewada, the epicenter of clashes between the Maoists and security forces.

Chhattisgarh Maoist attack: A Sikh CRPF trooper took off his turban to tie it around the wounds of a fellow jawan, even as both were caught in the deadly encounter along the border of the Sukma and Bijapur districts.

India News: NEW DELHI: The Congress on Monday demanded the accountability of Union home minister Amit Shah over the death of 22 security personnel in Chhattisgarh.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah will arrive in Chhattisgarh on Monday to chair a high-level meeting in connection with the Naxal attack in the state's Bastar region that claimed the lives of 22 security

The police said that out of the 22 jawans killed in the attack, eight were from district reserve guard, six CoBRA commandos, six special task force (STF) members, and one jawan of the "Bastariya" battalion of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).

Basava Raju alias Nambala Keshav Rao took over as the general secretary of the CPI (Maoist) and has been part of the naxal movement since the 1970s. The National Investigation Agency had announced a reward of Rs 1.5 million for any information on Raju who is 67 years old. He is an expert at using the AK-47 according to a Intelligence Bureau report of 2011.

The Home Minister paid tributes to the 22 security personnel who were killed by naxals in Chhattisgarh

The key concern is that security forces are still struggling in this region, known as Bastar, despite the campaign against the Left-wing extremists starting around 15 years ago.

The home minister will then leave for the Basaguda camp of the CRPF in Bijapur in a chopper and will interact and take lunch with the CRPF and state police personnel there. Later, he will visit state capital Raipur and visit three hospitals where the injured personnel are admitted.

The total approved strength of security forces personnel for the operation was 790 and the rest were taken as auxiliary and support elements for the long haul operation, the sources said. Out of the total 22 fatalities, the CRPF has lost eight men out of which seven are CoBRA commandos while one personnel is from the Bastariya battalion.

Shah will reach the Jagdalpur airport (in Bastar district) at around 10.35 am, following which he will attend the wreath-laying ceremony to pay respect to the martyred personnel at the Police Lines.

India News: RAIPUR: Saturday's operation in Bastar by security forces may have been aimed at striking at the heart Maoist commander Madvi Hidma's stronghold — per.

A group of an estimated 400 Maoists had ambushed security personnel, leading to the killing of at least 22 personnel and injuries to 30 others

The state health and family welfare department on Thursday issued an order to this effect under the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 to contain the spread of the infection, a release by the public relations department said.