Maoist attack: Congress demands Fadnavis' resignation

A day after 15 C-60 commandos were killed in a Maoist attack in Maharastra's Gadchiroli district, the Congress sought the resignation of state Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and said the incident reflected failure of the Union Home Ministry.

"We demand the resignation of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis over the attack. The Home Ministry's failure was also evident," Congress spokesperson Rajeev Shukla said.

Congress leader Ragini Nayak also slammed the Centre over the alleged intelligence failure, saying the area had been declared Maoist-free but there were recent reports that the extremists were regrouping there.

"Why did the government not launch massive surveillance in the area when there were reports of the Naxals regrouping there," Nayak asked.

She cast a doubt over the origin of the explosive material in the attack and compared it to the Pulwama terror attack where the attacker was reportedly carrying 300 kg of explosives in the car he rammed into a convoy of CRPF troops.

"The government has no reply as it had nothing to say after the Pulwama blast," said Nayak.

Citing data, the Congress leader said there had been 1,086 Maoist attacks over the past five years in which 351 jawans were martyred and 582 civilians injured.

--IANS

amit/rs/bc