Officer in charge of attacked outpost suspended

Chattisgarh government on Friday suspended the officer in-charge of the Rani Bodli police outpost in the Bastar region, which the Naxalites stormed and killed at least 55 police personnel.

Mohammad Hussain, Commandant of Ninth Battalion, which was deployed in Rani Bodli, has been placed under suspension a day after Naxalites attacked the outpost, about 525 km from Raipur, police sources said.

The police said the Bastar region, including the Bijapur district where the attack took place in the wee hours yesterday, was peaceful and no incident of Naxal violence was reported from any parts of the region on Saturday.

They said Special Task Force and paramilitary forces have launched combing operations in the jungle of Bijapur to trace the Naxalites.

The police parties have gone deep into the jungles of Bijapur district, they said.

Meanwhile, Home Minister Ram Vichar Netam told PTI that the state government has decided to give Rs 2 lakh to the family of slain Special Police Officers and about Rs 16 lakh to the Chhattisgarh Armed Force Jawans. Sixteen CAFJ Jawans and 39 SPOs were killed in the attack.