Naxals vandalise forest office in Gadchiroli; assault guards

Naxals allegedly vandalised an office of the forest department and assaulted two guards in Ettapalli taluka of Maharashtra's Gadchiroli district, police said on Wednesday. As per preliminary information, the incident took place in the quarters of the range forest office in Gatta, a senior forest official said."Forest guards don't usually stay there permanently due to security reasons.

Naxals allegedly vandalised an office of the forest department and assaulted two guards in Ettapalli taluka of Maharashtra's Gadchiroli district, police said on Wednesday. The attack took place late on Tuesday night when some ultras entered the forest department's office in Gatta area, under Bhamragadh forest department and assaulted two forest guards, an official from Gadchorli SP office said.

They set fire to furniture, documents and other articles in the office, he said. As per preliminary information, the incident took place in the quarters of the range forest office in Gatta, a senior forest official said.

"Forest guards don't usually stay there permanently due to security reasons. The men on patrolling duty had been staying there for the last two days," he said. The naxals burnt some items from the office and thrashed the men, he said, adding that further details were awaited.