Chhattisgarh: Maoists shoot jawan on sentry duty at Bastar jungle camp

RAIPUR: Maoists shot dead a Chhattisgarh Armed Force (CAF) jawan, who was on sentry duty at a police camp in a forest in Bastar’s Narayanpur district on Monday morning. The cold-blooded killing comes on the eve of Maoists’ ‘Shaheedi Saptah’ (martyrs' week).


Jitendra Bakde, of CAF 22nd Battalion, was posted as the sentry of Kademeta camp in Chote Dongar, a forested region about 40km from Narayanpur town and 300km from Raipur .

Sentry duty is assigned according to a roster. It was Bakde’s turn to guard the camp when a Maoist hit squad targeted him around 8.30am. Hiding behind some bushes at a distance, they fired two shots at Bakde, said Bastar police. Both bullets hit him in the chest and he collapsed. The other jawans rushed out and took combat positions, anticipating an attack by Maoists, but the shooters had disappeared into the forest and Bakde lay on the ground, bleeding to death. He was taken to hospital but was declared dead on arrival.

Police said they are yet to identify which group was involved in the killing. In the past few days, Maoists have been putting up posters and banners about ‘Shaheedi Saptah’, which they observe from July 28 to August 3. During this period, weekly markets, and movement of traffic on road and railway tracks are closed as a precaution against Maoist attacks. Security forces intensify operations inside the forests as Maoists convene meetings and carry out recruitment in villages during the ‘martyrs’ week’. As per records, 27 security personnel have been martyred – 17 of them in an ambush in March -- and 20 Maoists gunned down this year in Bastar and Rajnandgaon.