Thursday, July 1, 2010

Maoists shot jawans, slit their throats: Autopsy report

Narayanpur, Chhattisgarh: The post-mortem reports of the 27 CRPF jawans who were killed in the Chhattisgarh attack have revealed the savagery unleashed by the Maoists on Tuesday. The preliminary reports said the Naxals pumped in 3 to 4 bullets into each of the bodies that were found. But the brutality didn't stop there. Several jawans had their throats slit open while others had their heads smashed and limbs severed. The CRPF personnel who survived however managed to prevent the Naxals from taking away the arms of the jawans killed. CRPF men say several Naxals were also killed in the encounter, but their bodies haven't been found as Naxals are known to carry away the bodies of their slain colleagues. Meanwhile, in yet another Maoist attack in Chhattisgarh on Thursday, three informers were killed in Narayanpur district. Twenty-seven CRPF jawans were killed and seven injured when heavily-armed Maoists opened fire from automatic weapons on the 63-member security contingent, 3 km from the CRPF camp in Narayanpur district of Chhattisgarh on Tuesday. The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) top brass toured Chhattisgarh on Wednesday to take stock of what went wrong. Their preliminary assessment said basic precautions were once again ignored.

Naga minister in Nepal cash tangle

Nagaland Home Minister Imkong Imchen was detained at Kathmandu airport on Wednesday, minutes before he was to board a New Delhi-bound flight. He was later released.According to a communiqué from the office of Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio, Imchen was detained for carrying Indian currency notes of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 denomination. These high-value notes are banned in Nepal.“He was on a private visit to Nepal with his wife and children. He was unaware of the ban on Indian currency notes of Rs 500 and above,” the communiqué said, adding Imchen reached New Delhi later in the day.The minister’s wife and children were allowed to leave in the flight he was scheduled to take in the morning.The CMO office did not specify how much Imchen was carrying, but unconfirmed reports said he had Rs 9 lakh in cash when he landed in Kathmandu on Sunday. He was scheduled to attend a wedding there.Officials declined to say how Imchen landed in Kathmandu with all the cash and why he was detained on his way out of Nepal.Rio’s press secretary Abu Metha said the Nagaland government had sought Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram soon after “we learnt about the detention”. He also said many Indians a similar problem owing to ignorance of the ban on high-value Indian currency notes.Imchen is next to Rio in Nagaland’s politics besides being the cog of the regional Nagaland People’s Front, which heads the ruling alliance there.

Bomb found in crowded Imphal market

A powerful bomb was found on Wednesday from near a pharmacy in the crowded Imphal market complex locally known as Khwairamband in Manipur.The bomb hidden in a bag was later defused by the bomb squad personnel, official reports said.The police said an unknown person came to the market to buy medicine from a pharmacy shop owned by W Ranbir yesterday and left the bag with the bomb in front of it.Ranbir, when opened the shop this morning, thought someone forgot his bag. A letter was found inside his shop saying "Warning Ranbir" and the bag before your shop contains a bomb.He immediately informed the police who later recovered the bag with the bomb.Investigations have been continuing on the identity of the person who placed the bomb in a tight security area.Shop-owners and women vendors protested the incident and appealed to the militants not to do so in a crowded area, the police said.