April 2010 Maoist attack in Dantewada

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Dantewada Ambush (April 2010)

On 6 April 2010, Maoist insurgents attacked a convoy of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and local police near Chintalnar village in Dantewada district, Chhattisgarh, India. The attackers, estimated at hundreds, struck while the security team was conducting an area-dominance operation in the Bastar region. They used landmines and heavy fire.

Casualties were heavy: 76 CRPF personnel were killed, 8 Maoists were killed, and 8 policemen were wounded. This was the deadliest Maoist attack on Indian security forces up to that time.

Context: The attack happened within the larger Naxalite-Maoist insurgency, a long-running conflict in India’s poorer, forested areas. In response, the government launched large operations against the rebels in the so-called red corridor, which includes Bastar.

Aftermath: The government declared CPI (Maoist) a terrorist organization. Home Minister P. Chidambaram condemned the attack, and the incident intensified the push to curb Maoist activity, including the broader security operation known as Green Hunt. The violence also affected plans to invest in the mineral-rich Dantewada region, which is home to many tribal communities and is still underdeveloped.