A year after the police had killed two Naxal commanders in an encounter, the Naxals on Friday captured a state transport bus, and were planning to attack the police response team. However, the Naxals fled the spot when the police arrived too soon before they could plan the attack.
The Naxals intercepted a state transport bus that was plying between the Bhamragarh and Koti areas at around 8 pm on Friday. “There were no passengers in the bus. The armed Naxals asked the conductor and the driver of the bus to report the incident to the police, hoping to attack the response team when it arrives at the scene,” said a senior officer from Gadchiroli. According to the officer, a joint team comprising officers of the CRPF, C-60 commandoes and district police proceeded towards the area on Saturday morning. “Our men reached the spot at around 11 am on Saturday and found the bus abandoned. We cordoned off the area and searched for the Naxals. We were cautious while boarding the bus, as we suspected that the Naxals might have placed some explosives below or inside it,” he said.
The officer said that the bus was taken to a police post. “We suspect that the capture of the bus was to take revenge against the police for killing two Naxals during an encounter on May 18 2011,” he said.