Communist Terror: Chattisgarh tribals face consequences of standing up to Maoist terror

Naxalites trigger powerful blast in Bastar (NewKerala)

Naxalites trigger powerful blast in Bastar
Jagdalpur: In the wake of a recent attack on a relief camp, Communist Party of India (Maoist) cadres triggered a powerful landmine blast causing extensive damage to Bijapur-Avapalli road in Chhattisgarh's Dantewada diistrict this morning, but there was no casualty, police said.

The earlier attack by the naxalites on Sunday night at Gangalur claimed 11 lives , killing eight villagers and three naxalites.

Police sources said the blast was apparently aimed at damaging the road leading to village Cheramangi where an anti-naxalite meeting was scheduled tomorrow.

Sources said Chief Minister Dr Raman Singh was scheduled to attend a meeting of 'Salwa Judum'-- which in local dialect means peace campaign-- at Cheramangi tomorrow. They said it appeared that the naxalites had triggered the blast to disturb the meeting.

Senior Congress leader and leader of the opposition in the Assembly Mahendra Karma, who is heading the campaign, had undertaken a padyatra along with 'Salwa Judum' supporters on Bijapur-Avapalli road yesterday.

For the last six months, the tribals of Bastar are up in arms against the naxalites by launching the 'Salwa Judum' campaign so as to motivate the people to dissociate themselves from the extremists and to return to the national mainstream.

Several thousand tribals, displaced from their homestate following the hostilities between naxalites and the security forces,were given shelter in over a dozen relief camps in south Bastar.

Tags:MAOISTS COMMUNIST-CRIMES