Maharastra Director General of Police (DGP), Subodh Jaiswal, on Wednesday addressed a press conference and said that 15 Quick Response Team (QRT) commandos got martyred when the vehicle in which they were traveling was targeted by Naxals at North Gadchiroli, Maharashtra. The commandos were attacked when they were moving towards Khurada police station area in Gadchiroli, which is a Naxal-hit area.
DGP Jaiswal said that the Improvised Explosive Device (IED) was used by the Naxals to carry out the cowardly attack. "We are prepared to give a befitting reply to this attack and operations are going on in the area to ensure that no further casualties take place," he said.
DGP Jaiswal paid tributes to the martyred commandos and said that he has talked to Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis about the incident.
The DGP said that security forces will definitely retaliate and the operations to avenge the attack on QRT commandos will be carried out in the coming day. "It would not be right to term this as an intelligence failure. It is a dastardly attack, we will try our best that such incidents are not repeated. Our people are present at the spot, more information will come out by today evening," noted DGP Jaiswal.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra Governor CH. Vidyasagar Rao has cancelled the Reception and Cultural Programme organised at Raj Bhavan, Mumbai on Wednesday due to the attack on QRT commandos. The reception was cancelled as a mark of respect to the police personnel who lost their lives in the Naxal attack.
This is the second attack by Naxals in Gadchiroli in the last 24 hours. The QRT commandos were on their way to another spot where the Naxals had burnt down over 50 vehicles on Tuesday night.
QRT commando force was conceptualised and raised to battle the Naxal menace in 1992 by the then SP of Gadchiroli Police KP Raghuvansi. The men of this wing were imparted training in various types of guerrilla warfare fro reputed training institute in the country.
