300 Reds fired indiscriminately

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Publication: The Times Of India Delhi;Date: May 27, 2013;Section: Times Nation;Page: 15

300 Reds fired indiscriminately

Rashmi Drolia | TNN Raipur: Tribal leader Kawasi Lakma, the lone Congress MLA from Bastar who was wounded and is in a Jagdalpur hospital, said he saw the Maoists taking Chhattisgarh Congress chief Nand Kumar Patel and his son Dinesh towards dense forests with their hands tied. After some time, I heard gunshots. I feared the worst, Lakma told reporters from his hospital bed. Lakma represents the Maoist-hit Konta segment in Sukma and has head injuries. The PCC chief, his son Dinesh and I were in the same car. When the Maoists began shooting, I got injured when glass shards hit my face and head. I was only half-conscious when I saw Patel and his son being taken by the Maoists with their hands tied into the forest, he added. A terrified Lakma said he is unable to close his eyes or sleep as the incident keeps flashing before his eyes. There were more than 300 Maoists and they fired indiscriminately, Lakma said. Some Maoists asked us P a t e l k a u n h a i? We said he was not among us, said Shiv Narayan, a medical doctor who dabbles in politics. He added, I told them I was a doctor. The rebels gave me water, a pain-killer injection, and said, Ya h i n p a d e r e h n a (stay here). There were women Maoists around 18 to 20 years old. Another eye witness Daulat Rohra, state congress committee secretary who was with V C Shukla in his car, said the Maoists sprayed bullets at the former Union ministers vehicle. He was shot thrice. Roha said the rebels dragged him out of the car but left him, apparently unable to identify him. Our vehicle reached 15 minutes late to the spot and found other vehicles parked at Dharbha ghat. When the Maoists saw our vehicle, they began firing. Shukla pressed an emergency button which pushed his seat backwards and everyone inside the vehicle bowed down. But the bullets hit his stomach and another hit his leg, said Rohra.

Mangled remains of a vehicle at the site of the ambush in Bastar

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