CoBRA commandos' chopper crash lands in Sukma, 5 occupants injured

Raipur: A private helicopter carrying CoBRA commandos on Wednesday crash landed near a CRPF camp in Chhattisgarh’s Sukma district resulting in minor injuries to five occupants. [caption id=“attachment_2698512” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] Officials said two officers and a commando of the elite jungle warfare unit of the CoBRA were among five people who received injuries after the crash took place around 5:30 pm near the Chintagupha camp of the paramilitary force, deep in the Naxal hotbed of south Bastar. They said the pilot and the engineer of the Bell-206 helicopter, hired on lease by the CRPF for anti-Naxal operations in the state, were also injured. “All the three officials of the Commando Battalion for Resolute Action, which is CoBRA, and the two crew members are safe now,” a senior officer said. They said an inquiry is on to ascertain the reason of the crash, which could be a technical snag. The Commanding Officer of a CoBRA battalion deployed in Chhattisgarh, his second-in-command and a jawan had gone to Chintagupha for a meeting, they said. CRPF Director General Sudeep Lakhtakia was present in the area for reviewing operations in the aftermath of the April 24 ambush. The Chintagupha camp of the Central Reserve Police Force is deep inside Sukma and two days ago, Maoists killed 25 CRPF personnel in a deadly ambush near here in an area called Burkapal.