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Naxal attacks take police by surprise

By Prafulla Das

BHUBANESWAR, FEB. 7. The simultaneous attacks by a large number of armed People's War men on several key installations in Koraput district of Orissa on Friday night have shaken the State police and the Naveen Patnaik Government.

Three Central Reserve Police Force jawans and a constable of the Orissa State Armed Police were killed and five injured when the naxalites attacked the office of the Superintendent of Police, two armouries, the district jail, the treasury, the district hospital, and two police stations in Koraput, and three police stations in other parts of the district. They also blew up a truck carrying CRPF personnel on the Koraput-Jeypore road near Kolab Nagar, about 10 km away from the town. The injured have been admitted to a hospital in Visakhapatnam.

More than 300 naxalites stormed the town around 10 p.m. They chose their targets and attacked without much resistance from police. They came in a truck, two jeeps and five motorcycles and managed to flee with a huge cache of police weapons after the attack. The ultras looted about 100 weapons from different places.

Before launching the attacks, they had blocked the two main entries to the town by setting fire to heaps of old tyres on the road. As the traffic was held up, the rebels, armed with SLRs and AK-47 assault rifles, raided the town by dividing themselves into small groups. The naxals snatched a rifle from the sentry of the jail and opened fire. The Jail Superintendent, B.B. Pandya, who rushed out on hearing the gunshots, received a bullet injury on his leg. Simultaneously, they opened fire on the Sadar and Town police stations, office of the Superintendent of Police, treasury, and the third battalion of the Orissa State Armed Police.

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