Malkangiri (Orissa): Thirty six personnel of Andhra Pradesh's elite anti-naxal force are feared drowned after Maoists on Sunday opened fire on a boat carrying the security personnel.
The boat was carrying 64 people which included one Orissa police constable and two boatmen when Naxals unleashed heavy gunfire from a hilltop in Malkangiri district.
Orissa police chief Gopal Nanda said the firing took place near Alampetta village when the elite Greyhound force was sailing to Chirakonda across the Balimela reservoir on the border with Andhra Pradesh for a joint operation against the Maoists.
Prelimnary reports, as per survivors, said the Naxals resorted to heavy fire at 0900 hours after which the boat capsized and many personnel sustained bullet injuries.
While 28 personnel, including a lboat helper, could swim ashore, the whereabouts of 36 others were not known even as a search operation was on in the reservoir, Nanda said.
According to DIG (Operation) Arun Sarangi, 25 personnel swam to the shore, of whom 10 were airlifted to Visakhapatnam for treatment.
"Most of the 25 persons who returned to safety sustained bullet injuries," he said, adding some others could have swum towards the Andhra Pradesh side adjacent to Orissa.
The Centre rushed 125 CRPF personnel who were assisting in rescue operations, sources in the Union Home Ministry said, adding the area was not easily accessible and it needed trekking of several kilometres to reach the spot.
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