Orissa’s top Maoist leader Sabyasachi Panda, alias Sunil, has offered an apology for November 27 killing of five civilians near Bhramanigoan in the troubled Kandhamal district.
At least five people, including a woman and a child, were killed when rebels blew up an ambulance by triggering landmine explosion.
In a letter to the correspondents of local newspapers, Sunil, son of a former MLA, said the Maoist cadres mistook the ambulance to be police vehicle and ambushed it.
“This was a serious mistake on our part and we deeply regret for this. We will try to ensure that no such mistakes are repeated in the future,” Sunil said in letters sent to the correspondents.
The letters were sent on Friday evening. The letters said the police personnel who were following in two other vehicles in fact used the ambulance as shield to escape the ambush.