6 cops killed in Naxal attack

The attackers barged into the school compound shouting, “Simply surrender. We have a few hostages from your side” and started firing.

PAVAGADA (TUMKUR DT), DHNS:

Six policemen and one civilian were killed when hundreds of Naxalites attacked the KSRP special platoon camped at a school building in Venkatammanahalli village on Thursday night. Five policemen were seriously injured in the incident.
Senior police officers suspect this to be the handiwork of Naxalites belonging to the CPI (Maoists).

Naxalites numbering between 250 and 300 reached the KSRP camp at 10.45 pm by canters and jeeps and attacked the camp with country-made bombs, SLR guns, handgrenades and pistols, the police said.

The exchange of fire between police and the Naxalites in pitch darkness lasted more than an hour. Police suspect that two or three Naxalites could have been seriously injured or even died in the police fire. The attackers fled from the scene with 10 rifles (SLR) and bullets.

The dead have been identified as Sub-Inspector V V Kalavada (Gadag), head-constables Siddaramaiah (Gubbi), Chikkanarasimhaiah (Kunigal), Jayaram (Bangalore), N Rajeev (Bangalore) and sentry Venkatesh (Kolar) — all aged between 40 and 48 years. Civilian Hanumanth (18) is among the dead.

The KSRP special platoon was camping at Venkatammanahalli in the Tirumani police limits for the last one year. The KSRP was using two rooms at the Government Senior Primary School which falls on the way to the villages from Pavagada via Nagalamadike. One of the rooms was used to store weapons. There were 30 policemen in the building at the time of the attack.

After dinner Venkatesh the sentry was at the gate, Constable Swami was on the terrace and Sub-Inspector Kalavada was sleeping in the room where the weapons were stored. The Head Constable and the remaining policemen were asleep in the next room.

Vehicles poured into the school compound between 10.45 and 11 pm. Venkatesh was shot at point blank range. The attackers barged into the school compound shouting “Simply surrender. We have a few hostages from your side”.

When the policemen woke up to the sounds, hand grenades were thrown on the building and the Naxalites began firing with various weapons including an AK-47 rifle. Constable Swami, who was keeping watch on the terrace, fired at the attackers with his SLR gun. A few other policemen too returned fire. Anticipating trouble, Swami moved away when a powerful bomb was thrown on the terrace, thus saving himself in the nick of time.

The impact of the bomb was such that the roof of the building caved in killing Sub-Inspector Kalavada and the staff with him.
The attackers ran into the building and collected a few weapons. Just then, one from their gang shouted “some from our gang are injured too and are bleeding. Run”. They fled from the scene.

Civilian Hanumanth, a private bus cleaner, was filling water from within the school compound when he succumbed to the bullets. The injured constables have been moved to Bangalore and Pavagada hospitals for treatment.

Retaliation
Senior police officers suspect the attack to be in retaliation to the recent encounter in Chikmagalur killing two Naxalites. The move might also have been to confiscate arms, they opine. They also said the statement of revolutionary poet Gaddar, who said that the Chikmagalur incident would be returned with bullets, must be considered seriously.

Superintendent of Police P Muniswamy set off to Venkatammanahalli at 12.15 am, along with Additional Superintendent of Police Sudhakar Hegde, DySP M Prabhakar and a KSRP Special team.

Land mines
The suspected Naxalites, apart from attacking the police camp, also laid land mines on a bridge, within a few feet of the camp, on the way from Tumkur. The land mines were intended to destroy the police convoy approaching the camp. A tractor was parked to ward off suspicion over land mines.
But the police parked their vehicles behind the bridge and made their way to the camp by foot.

Local co-operation?
Police officials have however expressed concern that an incident of such magnitude could not have taken place without co-operation from locals.
Some women too reportedly participated in the attack.