At least three villagers were killed in Chhattisgarh’s Sukma district following Maoists attacked a CRPF camp on Monday.
Senior police officers including IG Bastar Sundar Raj and DIG CRPF Komal Singh have rushed to the spot.
Police said villagers had been protesting against the Mokur Camp in Tarrem on the Sukma-Bijapur border for the last three days.
However, they had gone back on Sunday night only to return the next day.
“They had gone back last night after protesting for two days but on Monday they came back. The state police tried to control the law and order situation,” News18 quoted a senior CRPF official as saying.
Clashes erupted between the Maoists and the police at the camp, and several casualties have been reported during the shootout.
Several Naxalites have also been killed in retaliatory firing, said police.
“The villagers were kept at the forefront but Naxals fired at the policemen. Some protestors were killed in the retaliatory firing by the police,” the officer said.
The District Reserve Guard (DRG) and the state police are currently handling law and order in the area.
Ever since the security camp had been established in Mokur, Naxals were misleading locals and forcing them to protest.
The district administration was in talks with the villagers and yesterday they had gone back. Today afternoon they came back in huge numbers.