Several police officers, accompanied by villagers, gathered at a candlelight rally Monday evening to mark their silent protest against the Maoist killing of COBRA pines in the Bijapur-Sukma area of Chhattisgarh state on Saturday.
Two state COBRA battalion workers, Sakhamuri Murali Krishna from Guntur District and Routhu Jagadeesh from Vizianagaram District, were among the 22 CRPF pines that died at the encounter in the Tarrem forests deep inside the Maoist fortress.
Murali Krishna and Jagadeesh of the COBRA 210 Battalion joined the CRPF a few years ago. They were part of the unfortunate operation in which over 400 heavily armed Maoists circled and attacked the Combing Party.
Police officers KV Ramana, P. Ravindra Babu and M. Keshava Rao attended the rally accompanied by the villagers. They raised slogans condemning the Maoists’ bloodshed and paid tribute to the killed jaws.
In Krishna County, Police Superintendent M. Ravindranath Babu and other officers paid homage to the Jawans who gave up their lives in the service. At a meeting in Machilipatnam on Monday, the SP and other officials condemned the Maoist massacre, which killed 22 jaws and injured 32 jaws.
“It is unfair on the part of the Maoists who claim to fight for the poor to kill young jaws who are doing their duty,” said the police.