Centre sends 2,000 paramilitary personnel to Chhattisgarh

This, after the Naxal attack on Congress leaders that claimed 27 lives

The Centre has rushed 2,000 additional paramilitary personnel to Chhattisgarh in the wake of the Naxal attack on Congress leaders that claimed 27 lives, including that of PCC chief Nand Kumar Patel.

The decision was taken following a request from the Chhattisgarh government which sought more forces to provide security to political leaders as well as to engage in anti-Naxal operations, official sources said today, adding that the units will be in the state in a day or two.

There are around 30,000 paramilitary personnel already deployed in Chhattisgarh mainly for anti-Naxal operations across the state.

Chhattisgarh is one of the worst Maoist violence-affected states and nearly 1,900 lives have been lost in last eight years of which around 570 were civilians, 700 security personnel and the rest were Naxal cadres.

Heavily-armed Maoists had on Saturday ambushed a convoy of Congress leaders in the state's Bastar district, killing 27 people including PCC chief Patel, his son Dinesh, Congress leader Mahendra Karma and ex-MLA Uday Mudliyar and injuring 32 others, including former Union Minister V C Shukla.