The attack caused at least 27 deaths, including that of former state minister Mahendra Karma and Chhattisgarh Congress chief Nand Kumar Patel.
The then Union Home Minister P Chidambaram had proposed to carry out counter offensive in the entire Bastar region but had to call off because of opposition from party leaders including Digvijaya Singh and some members of the National Advisory Council headed by Sonia Gandhi.
They were returning from a meeting organised in Sukma and were headed to Keshloor nearby Jagdalpur along National Highway 221 which connects Chhattisgarh with Krishna district in the adjacent state of Andhra Pradesh and hold its last rally there.
[11][12][13] As the convoy reached the deeply forested area of Dharba valley on Jagdalpur-Sukma Highway, 50 km from its destination, it was blocked by trees that had been felled by Maoists.
[5][7][18] Around 28 people were killed in the attack which included twelve Congress leaders and workers, eight police and CRPF jawans and four other villagers.
Kawasi Lakhma, a Congress MLA from Konta constituency in Bastar, who was part of convoy that was attacked and was kidnapped along with Patel and his son was later released by Naxalites.
Lakhma asserted that he climbed up the valley and found the motorbike of a local TV journalist who was trying to film the happenings from a hilltop.
[13][24] Ajit Jogi, the ex-Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh, did not join the convoy as he was supposed to; he was provided a helicopter to travel as he was handicapped.
It took security reinforcements several hours to reach the spot, as they had to walk carefully, for fear that land mines had been planted on the road leading to the area.
This is because in past, it has been seen that Maoists plant mines in and around the area of attacks to target security forces rushing for rescue and relief operations.
[4] Prime Minister Manmohan Singh reviewed the situation with Congress President Sonia Gandhi and other senior leaders.
Raman Singh had returned to Raipur, cancelling his Vikas Yatra, to hold an emergency meeting of the state cabinet.
[28] The Centre rushed more than 600 CRPF personnel, including the CoBRA anti-Maoist commandos, to sanitise and take control of the Naxal attack site in Chhattisgarh.
The Centre has mobilised the CRPF personnel to not only take control of the area but also launch search and rescue operations as it is suspected that some people may be present in nearby jungles.
[21] Pranay Sahay, the Director General of CRPF, later told media that "the paramilitary force has put its best men on the job to track the "retreating steps" of the Maoists who carried out the deadly attack last week killing 27 people including state PCC chief Nand Kumar Patel and another prominent leader Mahendra Karma.
"[29] According to media, the Additional Director General of the Border Security Force was stationed in Odisha to chase the Maoists who carried out the attack.
Chief Minister Raman Singh announced a separate ₹ 500,000 ex-gratia to the families of those killed, additionally asserting that the country will never bow before Naxalism.
While addressing party workers at Congress Bhavan in Raipur he said, "We will pursue the perpetrators of this crime with urgency and I can assure the nation that the Government is committed to bringing them to justice."
Union Ministry of Home Affairs also sent an advisory to all the Naxal-hit states asking them to thoroughly review the security of political leaders – both national and regional parties and, if necessary, their protection should be upgraded.
[34] The Indian Air Force initiated the up gradation of its surveillance capacity in Maoist-hit areas after the failure of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) operating in the attack region.
[17] On 14 September 2013, 14 Maoist cadres were shot by the Special Operation Group (SOG)[35] at the Salaikota reserve forest (35 km from Malkangiri) in South Odisha.