Sukma attack | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Part of the Naxalite-Maoist insurgency | |||||
| |||||
Belligerents | |||||
Communist Party of India (Maoist) | India | ||||
Units involved | |||||
Central Reserve Police Force | |||||
Strength | |||||
300 | 99 | ||||
Casualties and losses | |||||
3 – 4 killed | 26 killed |
The Sukma attack was an ambush carried out by the Communist Party of India (Maoist) against Indian paramilitary forces on 24 April 2017, during the Naxalite-Maoist insurgency. It was the largest ambush since a similar attack in 2010, in the neighbouring district of Dantewada. [1]
The ambush took place between Burkapal and Chintagufa in Sukma district of Chhattisgarh, India. [2] [3] [4] [5] A group of 300 Maoists attacked a 99-member troop of the Central Reserve Police Force. [6] Three Maoists and 25 police personnel were killed in the ensuing firefight. [7]
Mahendra Karma was an Indian political leader belonging to Indian National Congress from Chhattisgarh. He was the leader of the opposition in the Chhattisgarh Vidhan Sabha from 2004 to 2008. In 2005, he played a top role in organising the Salwa Judum movement against Naxalites, a Maoist group in Chhattisgarh. He was a Minister of Industry and Commerce in the Ajit Jogi cabinet since the state formation in 2000 to 2004. He was assassinated by Naxalites on 25 May 2013 in the 2013 Naxal attack in Darbha valley while returning from a Parivartan Rally meeting organised by his party in Sukma.
Dantewada District, also known as Dantewara District or Dakshin Bastar District, is a district in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh. Dantewada is the district headquarters. The district is part of Bastar Division. Until 1998, Dantewada District was a tehsil of the larger Bastar District.
Salwa Judum was a militia that was mobilised and deployed as part of counterinsurgency operations in Chhattisgarh, India, aimed at countering Naxalite activities in the region. The militia, consisting of local tribal youth, received support and training from the Chhattisgarh state government. It was outlawed and banned by a Supreme Court court order but continues to exist in the form of armed auxiliary forces, District Reserve Groups, and other vigilante groups.
The Naxalite–Maoist insurgency is an ongoing conflict between Maoist groups known as Naxalites or Naxals and the Indian government. The influence zone of the Naxalites is called the red corridor, which has been steadily declining in terms of geographical coverage and number of violent incidents, and in 2021 it was confined to the 25 "most affected" locations, accounting for 85% of Left Wing Extremism (LWE) violence, and 70 "total affected" districts across 10 states in two coal-rich, remote, forested hilly clusters in and around the Dandakaranya-Chhattisgarh-Odisha region and the tri-junction area of Jharkhand, Bihar, and West Bengal. The Naxalites have frequently targeted police and government workers in what they say is a fight for improved land rights and more jobs for neglected agricultural labourers and the poor.
COBRA is a special operation unit of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) of India proficient in guerrilla tactics and jungle warfare. Originally established to counter the Naxalite movement, CoBRA is deployed to address insurgent groups engaging in asymmetrical warfare. Numbering ten battalions as of 2011, CoBRA is considered to be one of the most experienced and successful law enforcement units in the country.
This is a timeline of the 1967–present Naxalite–Maoist insurgency in eastern India.
Operation Green Hunt is the name used by the Indian media to describe the "all-out offensive by paramilitary forces and the states forces" against the Naxalites. The operation is believed to have begun in November 2009 along five states in the "Red Corridor."
The April 2010 Dantewada Maoist attack was an 6 April 2010 ambush by Naxalite-Maoist insurgents from the Communist Party of India (Maoist) near Chintalnar village in Dantewada district, Chhattisgarh, India, leading to the killing of 76 CRPF policemen and 8 Maoists — the deadliest attack by the Maoists on Indian security forces.
Greyhounds is a police special forces unit of the Andhra Pradesh and Telangana Police departments in India. Greyhounds specialises in counter-insurgency operations against Naxalite and Maoist terrorists.
The 2010 Dantewada bus bombing occurred on 17 May 2010 when a bus hit a landmine 50 km away from Dantewada, in Chhattisgarh's Dantewada district. Fatalities reports range from 31 to 44, including several Special Police Officers (SPOs) and civilians.
The Chhattisgarh Police is the law enforcement agency for the state of Chhattisgarh in India. The agency is administered by the Department of Home Affairs of the Government of Chhattisgarh. The force has specialized units to fight the Naxalite–Maoist insurgency in some districts of the state.
Kartam Joga is an adivasi Indian political activist of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist). He was imprisoned in Chhattisgarh on suspicion of participating in the Tarmetla ambush in which 75 members of the Central Reserve Police Force were killed by CPI (Maoist) forces. Amnesty International named him a prisoner of conscience and described the charges against him as "fabricated". He was acquitted at his trial for lack of evidence.
On 25 May 2013, Naxalite insurgents of the Communist Party of India (Maoist) attacked a convoy of Indian National Congress leaders in the Jhiram Ghati, Darbha Valley in the Sukma district of Chhattisgarh, India. The attack caused at least 27 deaths, including that of former state minister Mahendra Karma and Chhattisgarh Congress chief Nand Kumar Patel. Vidya Charan Shukla, a senior Congress leader, succumbed to his injuries on 11 June 2013.
The People's Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) is the armed wing of the Communist Party of India (Maoist), a banned political organisation in India which aims to overthrow the Indian Government through protracted people's war.
The 2018 Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly election was held to elect members to the Legislative Assembly of the Indian State of Chhattisgarh. The election was held in two phases for a total of 90 seats; the first for 18 seats in South Chhattisgarh was held on 12 November 2018, and the second for the remaining 72 were held on 20 November.
On 13 March 2018, at least nine Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were killed and six others were injured when Maoists blew up a mine-protected vehicle with an IED in Sukma district, Chhattisgarh, India.
The Bastariya Battalion, also known as "Battalion 241," is a unit of India's Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), based in Chhattisgarh. The unit is tasked with curbing Naxalist activities in Chhattisgarh state. The battalion is named "Bastariya" because the force is composed of locals — both male and female — from Dantewada, Bijapur, Sukma, and Narayanpur — some of the most Maoist-affected districts in Bastar Division, Chhattisgarh.
Madvi Hidma is the youngest member of the Central Committee of Communist Party of India (Maoist). Hidma is allegedly responsible for various attacks on the security forces in Chhattisgarh, and the 2013 Naxal attack in Darbha valley. A bounty has been placed for his capture.
The 2021 Sukma-Bijapur attack was an ambush carried out by the Naxalite-Maoist militants from the Communist Party of India (Maoist) against Indian security forces on 3 April 2021 at Sukma-Bijapur border near Jonaguda village which falls under Jagargunda police station area in Sukma district of Chhattisgarh, the ensuing gunfight lead to the killing of 22 security personnel as well as 20 Naxalites. The death toll was the worst for Indian security forces fighting the Naxalites since 2017.
On 26 April 2023, a blast took place in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh's Dantewada district. While they were returning from an anti-Maoist operation undertaken based on intelligence inputs, a party of ten policemen and their driver who were members of the District Reserve Guard (DRG) of Chhattisgarh Police were killed in a blast caused by an improvised explosive device (IED) detonated by Naxals. The incident happened in the Dantewada neighborhood of the Aranpur police station.