Maoists claim Chhattisgarh Congress leader Karma was their prime target

Maoists on Tuesday claimed that the main target of their deadly May 25 attack on a convoy of Congress leaders in Chhattisgarh's Bastar District was tribal leader Mahendra Karma.

In a four-page letter and an audio clipping sent to the media from an undisclosed location, the Maoists formerly accepted responsibility for the death of 28 people and over 30 injured in the attack.

The letter carried the signature of a Maoist spokesperson from Dandakaranya.

As per the letter, a team of the People's Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) carried out the attack. It further states that senior Congress leaders Mahendra Karma, Nand Kumar Patel and V C Shukla were the main targets of the attack.

Karma and Patel were shot several times at point blank range before they died, while Shukla received three bullet wounds in his stomach, back and lungs, and was declared critically injured. Shukla is undergoing treatment at Gurgaon's Medanta Medicity Hospital since Sunday.

The Maoists claimed that the purpose of their attack was to "punish" Karma for launching the anti-Naxal armed Salwa Judum movement against them.

Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader in Chhattisgarh Nand Kumar Patel was targetted for giving a go ahead to Operation Green Hunt and letting paramilitary forces join anti-Naxal operations when he served as the state's home minister, the rebels said in their letter.

The Maoists, however, regretted the killing of some "innocent" Congress functionaries, but put the blame on Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh, the Congress and the BJP for their "anti-people policies".

The Reds also hit out at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, BJP president Rajnath Singh and CM Raman Singh for choosing to stay mum "when innocent people were being killed by the state".

The Maoists also made seven demands in the letter, calling for the withdrawal of paramilitary forces from Dandakaranya and an end to Operation Green Hunt.

They also sought the release of arrested Maoists and "innocent" tribals from prison unconditionally.

The National Investigation Agency is surveying the site of Saturday's deadly Maoist attack.

In New Delhi, Minister of State for Home R P N Singh said: "There have been security lapses and the NIA will investigate the whole case."

"Punishment has to be meted out to someone, whoever is responsible, at the Centre level or state level. The buck has to stop somewhere," Singh told reporters.

The Defence Ministry has ruled out any army role in fighting the rebels and the Union Home Ministry asked the troubled states to review the politicians' security.