14 people, including 13 policemen, killed in naxal attack

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Nayagarh (Orissa) (PTI): Striking in a big way for the first time in coastal Orissa, Naxalites killed 14 people, including 13 policemen, besides injuring 10 others and looting the district armoury here after virtually laying siege to the town, police said on Saturday.
In a daring and meticulously planned attack late on Fridaynight, the ultras targetted a police training school, armoury and a police station in Nayagarh and another police station at Daspalla, the police said.
A huge cache of arms and ammunition was taken away in a truck and a bus they had hijacked, the police said.
A group of nearly 100 naxals, including women cadre, with bombs and firearms carried out the attack killing 13 police personnel, including two women, and a civilian besides causing injuries to about nine persons, Nayagarh Superintendent of Police Rajesh Kumar said.
While 10 police personnel were killed at the PTS, armoury and Nayagarh police station, a civilian caught in crossfire died at Daspalla, he said.
Two police personnel were shot dead by the naxalites while they were returning after carrying out the operation at Mahipur police outpost.
One injured policemen succumbed to his wounds today.
Five of the injured were sent to SCB medical college hospital at Cuttack and the rest admitted to hospitals here and at Daspalla, the police said.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik visited the armoury and the police training school at Nayagarh.
Landmines laid by the naxalites at Majuriapali near here also caused injuries to one person, the police said.
The attack, the first of its kind in coastal Orissa at a place around 120 km from the state capital, was launched around 11 pm and continued up to past mignight, they said.
The district armoury and PTS were virtually emptied by the Maoists, the police said.
Police personnel in strength have been deployed in the district and its borders sealed, while efforts were on to trace the ultras who were believed to have left in two separate directions, the police said.
Though Nayagarh district had been unaffected by the naxal menace, the ultras are active in neighbouring Gajapati and parts of Kandhamal district.
Nayagarh happens to be the home town of prominent maoist leader Sabysachi Panda.
In a similar attack in 2005 at the district headquarter town of Koraput, naxalites had looted a large quantity of arms and ammunition from the police armoury.
Before launching the attack, the ultras which included women cadres, asked the people to stay indoors, making it clear that their intention was to carry away arms and ammunition, local residents said.