Amit Shah visits Chhattisgarh, pays homage to security men killed in Naxal attack

Amit Shah visits Chhattisgarh, pays homage to security men killed in Naxal attack

Amit Shah visits Chhattisgarh, pays homage to security men killed in Naxal attack

Jagdalpur : Union Home Affairs Minister Amit Shah was present at a wreathing ceremony on Monday in honor of security forces who lost their lives during a gun battle with the Naxals in the Bastar region of Chhattisgarh.

Twenty-two security personnel were killed and 31 others were injured in a shootout with Naxal between Jonahguda and Tekalguda on the Sukma-Bijapur district border on Saturday.

After arriving in the town of Chhattisgarh in Jagdalpur from Delhi, Shah arrived at Police Lines here, where the remains of 14 security personnel were kept in boxes tied to the national flag, in honor of the last one.

Shah, Chhattisgarh Prime Minister Bhupesh Baghel and other dignitaries have placed a crown on the mortal bones of security personnel.

A flower-laying ceremony for some of the martyrs jawans, who were part of the Bijapur region, was held in the city of Bijapur with the presence of community representatives and senior officials.

Amit Shah visits Chhattisgarh, pays homage to security men killed in Naxal attack

Amit Shah visits Chhattisgarh, pays homage to security men killed in Naxal attack

It is the first time Shah has visited the Bastar region after taking the case of the Minister of Home Affairs of the Unions, an official said.

Shah is scheduled to chair a high-level meeting at the Police Coordination Center here in the context of Left Wing Extremism (LWE).

CM Baghel, senior state police officers and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) will attend the meeting, he said.

Shah then went to the Basaguda CRPF camp in Bijapur in chopper and had lunch with the CRPF and police personnel there, he said.

He will later travel to Raipur and visit three hospitals where injured workers are being treated.

Shah will return to Delhi at 5.30pm on Monday.

The Union Interior Minister on Sunday promised a positive response to Naxals that the fight against the insurgents would be won through the concerted efforts of the federal and state governments.

Of the 22 deaths, the CRPF lost eight men, including seven commanders of the CoBRA (CRPF) and one Bastaria faction, eight of whom died from the District Reserve Guard (DRG) and six from the Special Task Force. (STF).

Only one jawan is left, officials said. PTI