A group of armed Naxals who were clad in civilians’ dress, gunned down a police man on Saturday in full public view at a weekly market in violence-hit Dantewada district, a senior police officer said. The brutal killing took place at the Tumnar village’s weekly market and the Naxals managed to walk away freely after killing the jawan who belonged to Chhattisgarh Armed Force (CAF).
Eyewitnesses claimed that Naxals who were estimated to be 5-6 in numbers surrounded the policeman, Mangru Mandawi, and opened indiscriminate on him. The policeman died on the spot while two tribal civilians were shopping in the market sustained injuries and were taken to hospital where their condition was stated to be out of danger. Reports say that nobody in crowded weekly market gathered courage to provide any help to the policeman and he died of excessive bleeding.
The shooting at the weekly market at about 12 noon created panic and tribal civilians deserted market in no time and even police reached after 45 minutes of the gun firing. Chief Minister Raman Singh has condemned the killing of the policeman and instructed senior officials in Dantewada to launch a drive to track down the killers.