Three Jawans of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) lost their lives and 15 others were injured in an encounter with Naxalites on the Sukma-Bijapur border in Chhattisgarh. The condition of some of the injured is critical. Two CRPF officers are also included among the injured. The incident took place near Tekalgudam village on Tuesday, when a joint team of CRPF and District Reserve Guard (DRG) security personnel had set out on a search operation after setting up a camp here.
The deceased have been identified as Constable Devan C, Constable Pawan Kumar of 201 Cobra Battalion and Constable Lambadhar Singha of 150 Battalion of CRPF. The injured include two Cobra officers, Deputy Commandant Lakhveer and Assistant Commandant Rajesh Panchal. The injured have been sent to Jagdalpur and Raipur for treatment. The action was going on here till the time of writing the news on Tuesday evening.
Chhattisgarh Director General of Police Ashok Juneja said that the security forces had responded to the attack by Maoists. The attackers also suffered a lot of damage in this. Some videos obtained from the spot are being assessed. Some attackers were seen carrying away the dead bodies of the attackers.
Actually, a team of 201 battalion of Cobra and 150 battalion of CRPF was working in this area to establish a Forward Operating Base (FOB). On Tuesday (30 January) the firing started around 1 pm. Maoists used dozens of rocket-shaped barrels called BGL and opened heavy fire during the attack on security forces .
Mr. Juneja said that we are setting up camps of security forces in the Naxal-affected interior areas so that the people living there can be helped in providing essential services for survival. He said that this work will continue with full vigor.
The area is said to be dominated by the first battalion of the Maoists’ People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army, which is known for carrying out several audacious attacks against security forces. The Inspector General of Police, Bastar Range, said the clash took place at the same place where 23 soldiers had lost their lives in an attack in 2021. 33 security personnel were also injured in this.
Earlier in the day, security forces, acting on a tip-off, had averted a major tragedy by detecting two explosive devices. Police said that these bombs were planted secretly in Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh at a place through which security forces have to pass during patrolling. The weight of one of these bombs was 5 kg and the other was 3 kg. The bomb disposal squad defused the bombs.
