A clump of long hair glistened in the damp undergrowth of Kohameta hill. Four days after a nine-hour long gunbattle here left 35 dead, rain had swept away the blood and left everything else, including empty bullet shells, looking uncannily fresh.
On the morning of October 4, company number six of the People’s Liberation Guerilla Army, the armed wing of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist), was encircled and outnumbered by security forces in this corner deep inside the forests of southern Chhattisgarh that it considers a base area, or safe zone. The battle ended with no losses to the security forces, and 35 insurgent deaths – 13 of them women.
Had the hair of a woman insurgent come unstuck while her corpse was dragged on the forest floor? “We had to drag and collect the bodies at one place before packing them,” said Smruthik Rajanala, a tall, lean Indian Police Service officer who led the operation.
The security forces carried back 31 bodies in plastic bundles strung on bamboo poles, and displayed them for press cameras the next evening on the lawns of a police campus. As the plastic parted from the putrefying faces, one of them looked like a boy not older than...
You may also like
TMZ removes Liam Payne photos after being branded 'gross' and 'disgrace' in furious backlash
NCP Pune unit President Deepak Mankar offers to resign over MLC seat denial
Morgan Stanley Shares Gain 6.50% After Quarterly Results Beat Estimates
Maharashtra polls: Congress to release first list of names on October 20
Study finds how bacterial vaccine demonstrates potential as treatment for cancer immunotherapy
Congress appoints BK Hariprasad, Gaurav Gogoi, Mohan Markam as AICC senior coordinators for Jharkhand elections
Sourav Ganguly No More With Delhi Capitals? IPL Franchise Appoints New Director Of Cricket: Report
Chennai rains: Depression over Bay of Bengal to make landfall today
SC verdict today on pleas challenging validity of Section 6A of Citizenship Act
Tim Walz Assaulted High School Student Matthew Metro In 1997? Video Surfaces
India rebukes Canada PM's no 'hard proof' admission
Ready to fight in all five assembly seats: Assam Congress' Jakir Hussain Sikdar on state's bypolls
'That's A Dangerous Stage For Other Sides': Australia Get Stern 'Virat Kohli' Warning Ahead Of Border-Gavaskar Trophy
Man Utd news: Thomas Tuchel breaks silence as price tag set for Antony transfer
Urgent insurance payment warning as some drivers charged £161 extra
Dubai population set to reach 4 million by 2026, report says
People are only just realising clever truth about famous feature in Apple logo
'Loss of up to $200,000 per hour': How bomb threats impact airlines, passengers
Jon Rahm finally proven right over Greg Norman as LIV Golf CEO being replaced
Concept of Khalistan as artificial as Pakistan was in its infancy: US expert