Maharashtra Home Minister R R Patil on Monday came under attack from the BJP-led Opposition in the state over his failure to pay tributes to the seven policemen, who were killed in a Maoist ambush at Chamorshi in former Naxalite stronghold of Gadchiroli.
Two police commandos also sustained serious injuries in the high-intensity blast.
“Patil’s absence shows his insensitivity to the martyrs. He might have skipped the function to avoid questions over his leadership qualities,” said state BJP spokesperson Avdhoot Wagh.
However, Patil, Guardian Minister of the Naxal-hit district, who was away in his native Sangli, claimed that top police officials had advised him against visiting Gadchiroli on security grounds.
“I will meet the martyrs’ families and condole them,” he told reporters in Sangli.
Later in the day, he reached Nagpur and visited two of the injured policemen in the Orange City Hospital.