NEW DELHI, May 21 (Xinhua) -- Indian police have nabbed 18 left-wing Naxalite rebels in connection with the killing of 25 para-military troopers in an ambush in the central state of Chhattisgarh last month.
"All the 18 Naxalites are being interrogated to establish their involvement in the attack in the Chintalnar and Chintafuga areas of the state's Sukma district. Those detained include some rebels who carried rewards on their heads and wanted in several cases," a police official said Sunday.
Earlier this month, police took into custody some 11 left-wing rebels for their alleged involvement in the ambush on Indian security forces. "With the latest detention, the number of Naxalites in custody in the case has risen to 29," the official added.
The 25 troopers of the para-military Central Reserve Police Force were killed on April 24 in a fierce gunfight with some 300 armed Naxalite rebels who had laid the ambush on them near Kala Pathar close to the Burkapal-Chintagufa area in Sukma.
The security forces personnel were providing protection for road construction work in the area when they were attacked. Around 10 to 12 Naxalites were also shot dead in retaliatory fire.
The Naxalites claim that they are fighting for greater rights for tribal people and the rural poor. Their movement began in the eastern state of West Bengal in the late 1960s and spread into less developed areas of rural southern and eastern India.
The Naxalites are now active in more than one third of India's 600-plus administrative districts. They routinely target Indian security forces.
