In a pre-dawn strike, suspected Maoist rebels on Thursday stormed into senior Congress leader Avdesh Gautam’s house at Nakulnar in Chhattisgarh’s Dantewada district, killing his brother-in-law and servant and injuring his wife, son and security guard, the police said. The Congress leader, however, escaped unhurt in the ambush and grenade attack by the ultras.

Union home secretary Mr G.K. Pillai, on Tue-sday said the steps taken so far to combat Naxalites have begun yielding results, even though shortage of security personnel remains a problem.

Gulf between the CRPF and the Chhattisgarh police on Saturday widened further with the former calling state director-general of police (DGP) Vishwa Ranjan’s claim of sharing intelligence on Maoists’ presence at Dhorai, where the ultras ambushed a contingent of the Central paramilitary force on June 29 killing 27 of them, a “bluff”.

The BJP on Friday demanded the Army’s role to fight the Maoists menace.
“Unlike the UPA government, there is no dilemma among the BJP’s central leadership on use of the Army against Naxals,” Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Sushma Swaraj, told reporters here.

In an act of savagery that may even put a beast to shame, Maoists had smashed heads of two jawans and slit throats of three others after killing them during their attack on a CRPF contingent at Dhorai on June 29, autopsy reports of the victims suggest.

The killing of 27 CRPF jawans by Maoists at Dhorai, in Chhattisgarh’s Narayanpur district, on Tuesday, has once again brought into focus the “lack of expertise and professionalism” of the Central paramilitary force in battling a well-knit and committed unit like the CPI(Maoist), a section of anti-Naxal experts feel.

In the third such major attack in three months which took the paramilitary force by complete surprise, suspected Maoists killed 26 jawans of a CRPF road opening party and injured 15 others in an ambush at Dhorai in Chhattisgarh’s Narayanpur district on Tuesday, the police said.
Rescue teams reached the spot late in the evening and the toll may go up, the police said.

Authorities are reportedly planning to “suspend” the ongoing anti-Maoists operations in Chhattisgarh in view of the monsoon, highly placed sources in the state police headquarters said here on Sunday.

Geologists have discovered a new diamond reserve in Chhattisgarh, official sources said here on Friday.
Experts of Geological Survey of India (GSI) have found a high quality diamond reserve in Jasipur district in the state.

Senior Congress leader and former chief minister Ajit Jogi’s son Amit on Saturday launched a week-long padyatra (foot-march) at Dantewada in Chhattisgarh’s restive Bastar division, coinciding with AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi’s birthday.