Two trapped cops died before Maoists set fire to vehicle: SP

Police officer RB Choudhary and another policeman, who were inside the anti-landmine vehicle, had already died when the Maoists set afire the vehicle after blowing it up at Bariganwa forest in Garhwa district yesterday, a police officer said today.

“They died inside the vehicle after the landmine explosion and before the Maoists set fire to it,"  Garhwa Superintendent of Police Michael S Raj said.

He was replying to a question if the Maoists had burnt Bhandaria police station officer-in-charge R B Choudhary and another policeman alive as they were inside the vehicle.

The police yesterday took out their burnt bodies from inside the vehicle.

“We are waiting for the post mortem report,” Raj said when told of eyewitness versions claiming that the rebels had shot some policemen from close range while they tried to come out from the twisted vehicle.

According to eyewitnesses, the anti-landmine vehicle was tossed 30/40 feet high into the air under the impact of the explosion before falling down, indicating that the Maoists must have used more than 50/60 kg explosives.

The Maoists numbering about 50 took away 11 INSAS rifles, one SLR and two AK 47 rifles, according to police sources.

The state police chief, GS Rath, today paid his last respects to the slain jawans whose bodies were being sent to their respective native places.