The Balimela reservoir boat attack occurred on 29 June 2008 when

Communist Party of India (Maoist) The Communist Party of India (Maoist) is a Marxism–Leninism–Maoism, Marxist–Leninist–Maoist banned Communism, communist political party and militant organization in India which aims to overthrow the "semi-colonial and semi-feudal In ...

forces ambushed a boat on the

Balimela Reservoir The Balimela Reservoir is located in Malkangiri district, Odisha, India on the river Sileru river, Sileru which is a tributary of the Godavari river. The gross storage capacity of Balimela reservoir is 3610 million cubic meters. Andhra Prade ...

Orissa Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of Sch ...

, India carrying 60

Greyhounds The English Greyhound, or simply the Greyhound, is a breed of dog, a sighthound which has been bred for coursing, greyhound racing and hunting. Since the rise in large-scale adoption of retired racing Greyhounds, the breed has seen a resurge ...

commandos, 5 police officers, and a boat operator. The boat sunk, killing 38 people, while 27 survived. The group was ambushed by Maoists while returning to

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

through the

Sileru River Sileru River is a tributary of Sabari River. It originates in Andhra Pradesh and also flows through Odisha before merging with Sabari. Sabari river crosses the border into Andhra Pradesh to merge with Godavari river. Sileru (known as Machkund in i ...

on board a motorboat belonging to the Odisha Irrigation Department, after conducting an unsuccessful combing operation in Odisha. The boat was attacked shortly after departing Janbai, Odisha by an unknown number of Maoists. The assailants, located on the surrounding hills, attacked the boat while it was passing through a narrow passage of the

with light machine guns, self-loading rifles, grenades, and automatic weapons such as

AK-47 The AK-47, officially known as the ''Avtomat Kalashnikova'' (; also known as the Kalashnikov or just AK), is a gas operated, gas-operated assault rifle that is chambered for the 7.62×39mm cartridge. Developed in the Soviet Union by Russian s ...

s and AK-56s. The grenades thrown at the boat caused it to capsize and sink. Thirty-eight people died in the attack, including 32 Greyhounds personnel and the boat operator, resulting in the highest death toll for the Greyhounds in a single attack. Twenty-seven people survived mostly by swimming to safety. Some Greyhounds personnel were captured by Maoists and killed in custody. Search parties later recovered the remains of Greyhounds personnel with hands bound behind their back. The

claimed responsibility for the attack. Odisha Home Secretary T.K. Mishra stated that the Greyhounds had made a "tactical blunder" by traveling in one boat and should have undertaken their journey earlier in the morning.

Patel Sudhakar Reddy Patel Sudhakar Reddy, aliases Suryam, Damodar, and Venkatesh, (1950s – 24 May 2009) was a leader of the central committee of the Communist Party of India (Maoist). Early life Reddy was born in Kurthiravulacheruvu village in Mahbubnagar dis ...

, leader of the central committee of the CPI (M), who police accused of being involved in the Balimela attack and several other major crimes, was killed during a combing operation by

Andhra Pradesh Police The Andhra Pradesh Police is the law enforcement agency of the state of Andhra Pradesh, India. Public order and police being a state subject in India, the police force is headed by the Director general of police, Kasireddy Rajendranadh Reddy H ...

on 24 May 2009. Police had received specific intelligence regarding the location of Maoists in the Lavella forest area in Tadwai mandal of

Warangal district Warangal district, formerly Warangal Rural district, is a district in the Indian state of Telangana. The district shares boundaries with Mahabubabad, Jangaon, Hanamkonda, Mulugu and Bhupalpally districts. As of June 2021, Hanamkonda tentativ ...

. His colleague Venkaiah, a CPI (M) district committee member was also killed in the encounter. Muttannagari Jalandhar Reddy alias Krishna, who was also involved in the Balimela attack, surrendered to Andhra Pradesh Police in April 2021.

References

{{Reflist 2008 in India Communist Party of India (Maoist) Conflicts in 2008 Naxalite–Maoist insurgency Crime in Odisha Malkangiri district