Nagpur, May 25: Senior Chhattisgarh Congress leader Mahendra Karma was reportedly killed in a Maoist attack in the sensitive Darbha valley of the restive south Bastar region today.

Karma was part of a cavalcade of top Chhattisgarh Congress leaders that included state party president Nandkumar Patel, veteran leader Vidya Charan Shukla and Sukma legislator Kawasi Lakhma, Chhattisgarh additional director general of police (State Intelligence Bureau) Mukesh Gupta confirmed in Raipur in the evening based on the preliminary reports.

A PTI report said Patel had been kidnapped. Shukla was injured.

The incident occurred between Dharba and Tongpal, about 60km from Jagdalpur on the highway to Sukma.

The entire party leadership was still stuck near Darbha valley, Gupta said.

The party leaders are being brought to Jagdalpur under heavy police protection from the incident spot, state police said.

The incident has thrown the political establishment in Raipur in a tizzy with the chief minister Raman Singh calling for an emergency meeting to take stock of the situation while condemning the incident.

More than 20 vehicles carrying over a hundred Congress workers and senior leaders were heading for south Bastar’s Sukma district to address a rally as part of their ‘Parivartan Yatra’ when it was rattled first by a blast reportedly triggered by Maoists, who, the police said also fired at the first three vehicles before fleeing the spot. The second vehicle came under the blast, the police said.

While no party leader could be reached for a comment despite repeated attempts, the state Congress media cell in charge Shailesh Nitin Trivedi told reporters in a quick briefing that this was a major security breach.

“Naxals had opposed both BJP’s Vikas Yatra and Congress’ Parivartan Yatra. However, the state government provided security only to BJP’s Yatra and not to the one organised by the Congress. Had it been provided security, today’s incident would not have happened,” Trivedi said.

The party’s Parivartan Yatra, a counter to the chief minister Dr Raman Singh’s ongoing Vikas Yatra, is in Bastar in its third phase.

There have been reports that Maoists might target both the rallies.

The attack came a day before a Dandakaranya Bandh called by the Maoists to protest the incident in Edasmetta village last week in which eight innocent villagers were mistakenly killed by the police.

Late last month, the Maoists had killed a vice-president of Dantewada district unit.

Congress chief Sonia Gandhi termed the attack as an attack on democratic values. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh talked to Chhattisgarh chief minister Raman Singh over the attack.

Singh also asked whether the Chhattisgarh government required more central forces urgently.