BHADRACHALAM: Naxalites of the CPI (Maoist) raided Basaguda village in Bijapura district of Chhattisgarh targeting the activists of Salva Judum and killed four of them in the early hours of Monday. Some 30 persons supporting the anti-Maoist campaign were injured in the attack.

The raid was looked upon as continuation of the terror campaign unleashed by the left wing extremist group in the tribal villages of South Bastar ( bordering Khammam district of Andhra Pradesh) by killing 27 activists of the Salva Judum while returning from a peace rally last week near Erraboru village in Kunta sub-division.

Sources said that at least 700 tribals, mostly the Sangham members from the Maoist strongholds, accompanied the armed squads that spearheaded this operation.

Tension gripped the forest pocket following the raid. While retreating from the village, the naxalites blasted a private bus, which was on its way from Jagadalpur to Basaguda, near Timmapur (5 km away from Basaguda) around 11 a.m. Two persons aboard the bus were killed while seven others injured seriously.

The injured persons, whose condition was said to be serious, were airlifted from the village by engaging a helicopter and admitted to a private hospital in Bacheli town.

Maoists blasted a rail engine at the Bhansi railway station near Dantewada district headquarters on Sunday. The railway station building was partially damaged under the impact of the explosion.

The Maoists stepped up a counter-campaign asking for disbanding the State-sponsored Salva Judum campaign.

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