Jagdalpur (Chhattisgarh), April 7 (IANS) Home Minister P. Chidambaram pledged Wednesday that the government would never allow Maoist guerrillas to succeed.

'We cannot and shall not allow them to succeed,' Chidambaram said here after paying homage to 75 paramilitary troopers massacred by the rebels in Chhattisgarh Tuesday. A police head constable was also killed.

Calling the attacks 'brutal act of violence', the minister said the state -- the central and state governments -- would fight back.

Hundreds of Maoists trapped over 80 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel on a hilly stretch in Dantewada district early Tuesday and went on a killing spree.