27 May 2013
Raipur: Three days after one of the deadliest Naxal strikes ever
in Chhattisgarh, those who were in the direct line of fire are slowly
coming to terms with the chilling scale and nature of the attack.
One of them is Sattar Ali, a close associate of Congress leader Mahendra Karma. Mr Ali was with Mr Karma on that fateful Saturday when around 250 Naxals struck a party convoy which was coming back after a rally in Sukma.
"We were surrounded by the Maoists who kept firing at us for two hours. Mr Karma felt the people around us will die like this. So, he stood up and announced 'Stop this firing, this is Mahendra Karma'. The Naxals then shouted, 'We've found Mahendra Karma'. Suddenly, two Maoists appeared from nowhere and tied Mr Karma's hands. The Maoists took Mr Karma and everyone else to a nearby spot. They then shot Mr Karma," said Mr Ali told NDTV. (Read: What went wrong? A report from Ground Zero)
He also said that all the policemen ran out of ammunition,
leaving the personal security officers to defend the Congress leaders.
"The cops accompanying us were helpless. The Maoists had taken away their guns. We were all forced to lie down," said Mr Ali, a former commander of the anti-Naxalite movement Salwa Judum and now a Congress worker.
Mr Ali also said that no one, not even the police, came to rescue him in those two hours.
Mr Ali, who is in his early 40s, was a frontline commander of Salwa Judum, the anti-Naxalite movement started by Mr Karma. He is now a Congress worker. He said Mr Karma was like his elder brother.
At about 3:30 pm on Saturday, around 250 Maoists struck a convoy of 25 cars carrying Congress leaders and others, who were returning from the party's Parivartan rally in Sukma. They triggered landmine blasts and then rained bullets at the convoy from vantage points on hillocks. (Read: Katakam Sudershan, the Naxal leader allegedly behind the massacre)
The Maoists yesterday sent a four-page note and an audio clipping to the media, in which they have claimed responsibility of the May 25 attack that left 24 people dead. (Read)
The attack is now being investigated by the elite National Investigation Agency or NIA. This is the first Maoist assault that the agency is probing.
One of them is Sattar Ali, a close associate of Congress leader Mahendra Karma. Mr Ali was with Mr Karma on that fateful Saturday when around 250 Naxals struck a party convoy which was coming back after a rally in Sukma.
"We were surrounded by the Maoists who kept firing at us for two hours. Mr Karma felt the people around us will die like this. So, he stood up and announced 'Stop this firing, this is Mahendra Karma'. The Naxals then shouted, 'We've found Mahendra Karma'. Suddenly, two Maoists appeared from nowhere and tied Mr Karma's hands. The Maoists took Mr Karma and everyone else to a nearby spot. They then shot Mr Karma," said Mr Ali told NDTV. (Read: What went wrong? A report from Ground Zero)
"The cops accompanying us were helpless. The Maoists had taken away their guns. We were all forced to lie down," said Mr Ali, a former commander of the anti-Naxalite movement Salwa Judum and now a Congress worker.
Mr Ali also said that no one, not even the police, came to rescue him in those two hours.
Mr Ali, who is in his early 40s, was a frontline commander of Salwa Judum, the anti-Naxalite movement started by Mr Karma. He is now a Congress worker. He said Mr Karma was like his elder brother.
At about 3:30 pm on Saturday, around 250 Maoists struck a convoy of 25 cars carrying Congress leaders and others, who were returning from the party's Parivartan rally in Sukma. They triggered landmine blasts and then rained bullets at the convoy from vantage points on hillocks. (Read: Katakam Sudershan, the Naxal leader allegedly behind the massacre)
The Maoists yesterday sent a four-page note and an audio clipping to the media, in which they have claimed responsibility of the May 25 attack that left 24 people dead. (Read)
The attack is now being investigated by the elite National Investigation Agency or NIA. This is the first Maoist assault that the agency is probing.
