Moist killed 18 policemen in Gadchiroli, Maharashtra

Maoist guerrillas Thursday ambushed a police patrol and gunned down at least 18 policemen in a jungle stretch of Maharashtra's Gadchiroli district, officials said.The massacre occurred about a kilometre from Laheri village when the policemen were trekking through thick forests in search of hidden Maoists, an official of the Gadchiroli district police said. Reports received by the police indicate that more than 150 Maoists were involved in the attack, one of the worst in India in recent times. The Maoist attack - the second in less than 18 hours in the same region - came a day after Home Minister P. Chidambaram urged the Maoists to shun violence and go for a dialogue with the government. Additional security forces were rushed to the massacre site. Maharashtra officials said combing operations were on to get the killers who fled into the forests.