Militant Maois Accused Of Being Involved In Explosion That Killed 10 Police And 1 Civilian In Central India

Chairman of Minister Chahattisgarh Bhupesh Baghel (Photo: Instagram @ Bhupesh Baghel)

Ten police officers and a civilian were killed in the explosion as they returned from operations against rebels in central India's Chhattisgarh state. Chairman of Minister Chhattisgarh Bhupesh Baghel said rebel militant Maois was responsible for the attack. He mourned this death. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi strongly condemned this. "I pay tribute to the brave personnel who were lost in the attack. Their sacrifices will always be remembered. My condolences to the bereaved family," he wrote on Twitter quoted by CNN, Thursday, April 27. The Indian government has been involved in decades of conflict with the Maois rebel group, also known as the Naxal. The group launched attacks on government forces in an attempt to overthrow the country and deliver classless society. Maois is mostly active in central India, in remote areas largely inhabited by tribal communities. According to a 2019 India's Ministry of Home Affairs report, 90 districts in 11 states were affected by several forms of Naxal or Maois militancy. More than 2,100 civilians in India have been killed in the Maois uprising since 2010. The government has responded with security crackdowns in areas where the groups are active-an approach that although apparently reduces the threat level has been criticized by some observers as a crackdown and vulnerable to harassment. Villagers living in the Maois region are largely cut off from the country's rapidly growing economy, and many are living in fear of rebels taking their children in the recruitment and raids of the cruel government. Some villagers in Chhattisgarh had previously told CNN that they were forced to pay taxes to Maois, or face abuse or even torture. But if they pay, they are at risk of being branded as Maois sympathizers by government forces. At least 22 members of India's security forces were killed and 31 others injured in 2021 in a four-hour firefight with Maois rebels, officials said. In 2017, 25 police officers were killed and six others injured when hundreds of suspected rebel Maois attacked a convoy in central India.

Suspect Maois also attacked during India's 2019 election, allegedly shooting at a polling supervisor in the eastern state of Odisha. In another incident in the same district that year, suspect Maois approached a vehicle headed for the polling station and forced officers to step down before burning it.