With the recovery of the bodies, the toll in the lethal Maoist attack on a convoy of Congress leaders yesterday has climbed to 27, police sources said.
32 people have been injured in the attack, DGP Ram Niwas said today.
The bodies of Patel, his son Dinesh and eight others, mainly security personnel, have been recovered from Jiram valley in Bastar division, the sources said.
The Maoists had kidnapped Patel and his son Dinesh after attacking the convoy of Congress leaders.
Heavy rains in the area is hampering the operations of the security forces.
Senior Congress leader Mahendra Karma was killed and former union minister V C Shukla injured when heavily-armed Maoists ambushed a convoy of party leaders inside a dense forest in Chhattisgarh's Bastar district yesterday.
Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi, who arrived here in the wee hours today, said the party cannot be cowed down by such attacks and will continue to move forward.
"It is not an attack on Congress. It is an attack on democracy. But, we'll not fear from such an attack and continue to move forward with enthusiasm," Gandhi said.
Gandhi also met V C Shukla and other injured leaders at a hospital.
"I met V C Shukla and other injured leaders at a hospital. As soon as his condition becomes stable, he'll be sent to Delhi," he said.
"Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi will also be visiting the state," Gandhi said.
In the wake of the deadly attack, security has been stepped up at the Congress Bhavan in Raipur and other vital installations in the state.
State Congress Spokesperson Rajesh Bissa said, "The body of Nand Kumar and his son have been found. If the state government would have taken care of security during Parivartan Yatra, then this incident would not have happened. We all are in shock".
Soon after the attack yesterday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had spoken to Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh and offered all help in rescue and relief operations.
He strongly condemned the "dastardly" Maoists attack on Congress leaders and workers in Chhattisgarh.
The Maoist attack took place in a dense forest near National Highway 202 connecting Chattisgarh with Naxal-hit Bhadrachalam district in adjacent Andhra Pradesh.
Opposition Congress' Parivartan Yatra, comprising senior party leaders, had launched Parivartan Yatra on April 12 in the state where Assembly elections are due by year end.
The Centre has rushed more than 600 CRPF personnel, including elite CoBRA anti-Maoist commandos, to sanitise and take control of the Naxal attack site in Chhattisgarh.
The Centre has mobilised the CRPF personnel to not only take control of the area but also launch search and rescue operations as it is suspected that some people may be present in nearby jungles.
Former Union Minister Vidya Charan Shukla was injured and Mahendra Karma and PCC chief Nand Kumar Patel were killed in a Naxal attack in Chhattisgarh on Saturday.
Senior Cong leaders among 17 killed in Maoist attack
Raipur, May 26: At least 17 people, including senior Congress leader Mahendra Karma, were killed and former Union minister V C Shukla and 19 others wounded when heavily armed Maoists ambushed a convoy of party leaders inside a dense forest in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar district.
The Maoists also kidnapped Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) chief Nand Kumar Patel and his son Dinesh after attacking the convoy of Congress leaders in the Darba Gati Valley near Jagdalpur, headquarters town of Bastar district, on Saturday evening, police said.
Joint Secretary (Naxal Management) in Union Home Ministry M A Ganpathy said in New Delhi that 17 people were killed and around 20 wounded in the attack. Most of the dead and injured were Congress leaders and workers, he said.
Four to five of those killed in the attack were personal security officers of the Congress leaders.
At a late night press conference, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh put the number of dead in the Naxal attack at 16 and did not give any figure of the injured.
Shukla, 84, underwent an operation in Jagdalpur Hospital. He had received three bullet wounds.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi said in New Delhi that Shukla was hit in the stomach.
Raman Singh said Shukla’s condition was stable.
Besides Karma, former Congress MP Gopal Madhavan and former MLA from Rajnandgaon Udya Mudaliyar were also shot dead and prominent woman tribal leader Phulo Devi Netam, Bastar, wounded by the Maoists who attacked the convoy at 5:30 pm when they were returning from the party’s “Parivartan” rally.
Karma, a former home minister and founder of “Salwa Judum” (anti-Naxal operation by vigilante groups), was surrounded by about 100 to 150 Maoists who peppered his body with bullets.
The Maoists had put up roadblocks by felling trees before triggering a landmine blast – that hit one of the vehicles in the convoy – and opening fire, police sources said.
After carrying out the attack, the ultras set nearby trees on fire.
The personal security officers of the Congress leaders returned the fire but soon ran out of bullets, becoming sitting ducks.
The Maoist attack took place in a dense forest near National Highway 202 connecting Chattisgarh with Bhadrachalam district in adjacent Andhra Pradesh.
Congress, which is currently in Opposition position in Chattisgarh, launched Parivartan Yatra on April 12 in the state where Assembly elections are due by year-end.
In New Delhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh condemned the “dastardly” attack on Congress leaders and workers in Chhattisgarh and appealed to Maoists to release at the earliest all those who might have been abducted.
Singh spoke to Raman Singh over the phone twice after the incident and offered all help in rescue and relief operations and said the government would take firm action against the perpetrators of violence of any kind.
“I have spoken to the chief minister of the state and urged him to provide all possible assistance to those who have been injured and to ensure the security and safety of those who have been abducted,” said Singh who also had a meeting with Sonia Gandhi and party Vice-President Rahul Gandhi on the situation arising out of the attack.
The Centre has rushed more than 600 CRPF personnel, including elite CoBRA anti-Maoist commandos, to sanitise and take control of the attack site in Chhattisgarh.The Centre has also mobilised the CRPF personnel to not only take control of the area but also launch search and rescue operations as it is suspected that some people may be present in nearby jungles.
Top officials of the force, deployed for anti-Maoist operations in the state, will visit the encounter site on Sunday, official sources said.
The CRPF has also asked all its formations in the state to remain on high alert in the wake of Saturday’s deadly attack in south Bastar. Union Minister of State for Home R P N Singh, will visit Chhattisgarh on Sunday to take stock of the situation in the wake of the Maoist attack. He said in New Delhi, “Our top priority is to find the missing PCC chief and his son.”
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