Raipur, May 17, (PTI) :Maoists on Monday blew up a bus killing at least 40 persons, including several Special Police Officers (SPOs), in Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh, in the second brazen attack in little over a month.
The Naxals attacked the bus carrying passengers from Gadiras to Bhusaras in Dantewada district, nearly 400 kms from here, using Improvised Explosive Device (IED) at around 16:45 hrs, officials said.
The SPOs, who are civilians assisting police in fighting the Naxals, were attached to Dantewada police, they said.
The IED was planted on a metalled road and detonated by the Left-Wing Extremists using remote control device.
The attack came a day before the Maoists' call for a 48-hour bandh in five states, including Chhattisgarh, from tomorrow in protest against the security operations launched against them by the Centre.
Union Home Ministry condemned the attack and said most of the killed were civilians. An MHA spokesman said there was no CRPF personnel in the bus.
The Naxals had on April 6 carried out their deadliest attack killing 76 security personnel in Mukrana forests of Dantewada district.
On May 8, seven CRPF jawans were killed when Naxals blew up a bullet-proof vehicle in Bijapur district.
The Maoists also killed six villagers, including a sarpanch, near Teregaon in Rajnandgaon district yesterday and threw their bodies outside the villages.
Rajnandgaon district has witnessed a series of Naxalite attacks in the past. In July last year, Maoists had attacked a police party killing 29 personnel, including Superintendent of Police Vinod Kumar Choubey.
BJP, which is in power in Chhattisgarh, strongly condemned today's attack and demanded that the menace of naxalism should be fought with full strength and vigour.
"This is a barbaric attack and BJP strongly condemns it. The government should further strengthen its resources to fight naxalism. This menace has to be fought with full strength and vigour," BJP spokesperson Syed Shahnawaz Hussain said in Delhi.
The main opposition stands in full support of the government in all steps it takes to fight Maoist terror, he said.