Andhra Pradesh

Launch recovered from Chitrakonda reservoir

VISAKHAPATNAM: A week after it sank off the Chitrakonda reservoir in Orissa leading to the death of several Greyhounds constables after an ambush by Maoists, the police and naval authorities retrieved the launch by using imported balloon technology on Sunday evening.

Efforts were being made to bring the vessel to the shore. Police confirmed recovery of three bodies during the day and the badly mutilated bodies of some other constables are likely to be recovered on Monday.

A police officer confirmed that some bodies were lying trapped inside the cabin. The launch was retrieved at about 6.15 p.m.

“The launch, which got stuck in the riverbed, came to the shore after imported balloons were dropped inside to put pressure on the launch by inflating it with air,” Commissioner of Police N. Sambasiva Rao told The Hindu.

Each balloon deployed by the police under the supervision of Visakhapatnam SP Akun Sabharwal had the capacity to remove any sunken vessel up to a weight of 10 tonnes.

The launch capsized when a Greyhounds team came under fire from Maoists positioned in the adjoining hillocks. Some constables were trapped inside the cabin, while 28 could swim to safety.

Some could not reach the shore as Maoists shot them by chasing them in country boats.

The bodies recovered on Sunday were identified as that of constables Bujjibabu of Kakinada, A.V.B. Reddy of Parigi (Ranga Reddy) and N.M. Sekhar of Guntur.

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