RAIPUR:Two personnel of the Chhattisgarh special task force (STF) were on Wednesday killed in an encounter with Maoists in the inhospitable forested terrain of Mardapal in restive Kondagaon district, about 260 km south of Raipur.
The police claimed to have killed at least four rebels but their bodies could not be recovered by the forces.
“Based on a tip-off about the presence of Maoists close to Mardapal, a joint team of STF and the specially trained district reserve guards (DRG) launched a search operation on Wednesday afternoon when the ultras opened fire on the troopers. The security personnel swiftly retaliated to the attack. In the encounter that continued for an hour, we lost two jawans,” Kondagaon superintendent of police Santosh Kumar told New Indian Express.
There was, however, no report of any injury to the security personnel. A rescue team has been rushed to the area to assist the forces and to carry out cordon-and-search operations in the area, added SP Santosh Kumar.
Kondagaon is among the seven districts of the conflict zone of Bastar worst affected by Maoist violence. Left-wing extremists are present in at least 16 of the 27 districts in Chhattisgarh but are most active in Bastar.