NEW DELHI: A Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel succumbed to bullet injuries he sustained in an exchange of fire with the Maoists near Tonguda close to the border areas of Bijapur and Sukma, about 480 km south of Raipur, during the wee hours of Thursday.
“A joint team of the CRPF from 151th battalion and the elite CoBRA unit were on search operation close to the dense forested terrain of Pamed where the Naxals ambushed them. In an ensued encounter a CRPF jawan sustained injuries. He was taken to hospital where he succumbed to his injury”, said the Bijapur SP Govardhan Thakur.
As the security forces got an upper hand, the Maoists managed to escape into the nearby forests, he added. The gun-battle continued for over an hour.
Additional forces have been sent to the ambush site and the search operation further intensified.
“Our senior officials are on their way to the region. Further details are awaited. The incident is cited to have taken place about a kilometre from the CRPF Tonguda base camp” BC Patra, CRPF spokesperson told the Express.
Bijapur and Sukma are among the 14 districts in Chhattisgarh having the presence of outlawed CPI (Maoist).