35 Maoists killed in ambush in Chhattisgarh

 A Maoist, who surrendered last week in Chhattisgarh, told the police that 35 rebels were killed in an ambush with the security forces earlier this month.

Chhattisgarh Additional Director General (ADG) of Police R.K. Vij  on Tuesday said the Maoist, Soni Rama, had surrendered on April 16 and given them the information on the ambush.

"He has told us that 35 Maoists had been killed in the encounter and 15 were left injured. They were cremated in the jungle. Among the 35, deputy commander of the battalion number one which covers that area, Situ, was also killed; the secretary of Maoists under its Kunta area committee, Arjun has also been killed," Vij told the media in Raipur.

Rama, who was also present at the press conference, had voluntarily surrendered after more than seven years being a Maoist. He was a commander of seven villages in Chhattisgarh. Earlier on April 11, seven Special Task Force (STF) personnel were killed in a Maoist ambush in Polampalli forests in Sukma district of Chhattisgarh.

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh has stressed on the need for better coordination between the Central and state governments to meet the challenge posed by Maoists to the security forces. Describing the Naxal problem as the gravest challenge facing India, he had earlier asked all states which are grappling with the menace to appoint as District Magistrates and Superintendents of Police such officers who have the 'zeal' to fight the rebels.