Click to play videoPatna: Heavily-armed Naxals launched a daring attack on a Border Security Force camp in Bihar's Rohtas district late on Tuesday night, just a day before polling begins for the first phase of Lok Sabha elections.
In the gunbattle that followed BSF jawans shot dead 11 Naxals while one security personnel has been reportedly injured. The gunbattle finally ended after nearly eight hours on Wednesday morning.
Combing operations have been launched to track down the Naxals.
Officials say Naxals surrounded a BSF contingent of 70 jawans camping inside the Rohtas fort area at Dhansa Ghati about 80 kms from district headquarters and fired rocket launchers. The jawans retaliated with gunfire.
Seeing the scale of the Naxal attack, the Bihar government asked the Union government for intervention by the Air Force.
Rohtas, too, will vote on April 16 and the BSF personnel were sent to the Naxal-infested district to ensure peaceful elections.
Additional Director General of Police Nilmani said the Naxals raided the camp around midnight and started indiscriminate firingat the BSF contingent posted in the camp, set up for election duty.
Nilmani said a large contingent of security forces from the district headquarters, which is about 80 kms from the camp, had already been despatched.
Though the exact number of the Naxals could not be confirmed, it was estimated that between 100 and 150 heavily-armed ultras were involved in the attack, aimed at looting arms and ammunition from the paramilitary forces, Nilmani said.
RJD chief Lalu Prasad blamed the government for failing to curb Naxalite menace.
Meanwhile, attacks by Naxals have also been reported from several places in Jharkhand, including at Latehar and Daltonganj.
In Latehar one Central Reserve Police Force personnel and driver was killed while eight security personnel have been reportedly injured in the attack. Five Naxals, too, were killed in retaliatory fire by CRPF jawans. The CRPF team was going for election duty.
On Monday Union Home SEcretary Madhukar Gupta had admitted that anti-Naxal operations have been hit as security forces have been re-deployed in election duty.
When asked whether anti-Naxal operations were still being carried out by security forces, Gupat said at the moment "the focus was different'' . He also said that advisories have been sent on Monday to Naxal-hit states.
The Rohtas attack is the second large-scale Naxal attack within two days. On Sunday night, more than a 100 Naxals stormed the NALCO mine site in Orissa's Koraput district.
Eight Central Industrial Security Force jawans and four Naxals were killed in the nine-hour encounter at the NALCO mine site.
In another incident, the same day, 100 Naxals attacked a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) patrol in Dantewada district in Chhattisgarh in which 10 jawans including a Deputy Commandant were killed in the attack.
Naxals had on Saturday attacked a CRPF patrol killing five personnel in Khunti in Jharkhand too.
"I had cautioned everyone that CPI-Maoists would step up attacks before elections. But they will be fought. They will be fought in the jungles also. We have lost some brave securitymen but there are equal casualties on naxal side too," Home Minister P Chidambaram said on Wednesday.
(With inputs from Prabhakar Kumar and UNI)
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