An Assistant Commandant of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) was grievously injured in an attack by Maoists at a market place in restive Bastar region of Chhattisgarh on Friday.
The incident took in Palnar village of Dantewada district where the CRPF’s 111th battalion was stationed.
The injured officer has been identified as B.K.Malik, the company commander of the battalion.
"A small action team of Maoists attacked Mr. Malik with sharp edged weapons when he went to the weekly village market to gather intelligence today morning. He was already on the Naxal hit list," Mr.Dinesh Pratap Upadhyay, the Deputy Inspector General of the CRPF, Dantewada range, told The Hindu.
The injured officer was immediately shifted to Jagdalpur for treatment and is reported critical.
"He was lucky to have survived after such deep injuries on his head. The Maoists also snatched his pistol," informed Mr.Upadhyay.
Two villagers killed
In a separate incident, the Maoists killed two civilians in Darbha area of Bastar on the intervening night of Thursday and Friday.
The dead bodies of Panduram and Mangaluram Korram, who were residents of Toynar village, were found two kilometer away from the village.
Mangaluram Korram was the son of Toynar village Sarpanch Lakhmi Bai.
He was abducted by the Maoists along with Panduram and another villager Raju Mandavi a week ago.
Raju Mandavi was let off by the Maoists, but the ultras killed Mangaluram and Panduram on the suspicion of being police informers.