Five Naxals killed, five CoBRA jawans injured in encounter in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur amid voting in phase one of polls

Five soldiers of the Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA) were injured and five Naxals were killed in an encounter between the security forces and insurgents at Pamed village in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur. All the CoBRA personnel are out danger, ANI reported.

The shootout between security forces and Naxals began around 12.20 pm in Bijapur’s Pamed area, where voting for the first phase of the Chhattisgarh Assembly elections is currently underway  The Central Reserve Police Force had earlier confirmed that the encounter was on and said that the CoBRA jawans had sustained bullet injuries.

It was earlier reported that an inspector and a head constable were injured in the attack. They were shifted from the spot by a helicopter for medical attention.

#UPDATE: Three more personnel of Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA) are injured and around five Naxals are dead in the encounter that broke out between security forces & Naxals in Bijapur's Pamed area today. All the CoBRA personnel are out danger. #Chhattisgarh https://t.co/TkhHF0pjpG

— ANI (@ANI) November 12, 2018

The skirmish took place at a forest in the Pamed area, located around 500 kilometres from state capital Raipur, when a team of security personnel was patrolling the area in view of the voting underway in the region, a senior police official told PTI.

A group Naxalites opened fire on the CoBRA patrolling team, but they fled after the security personnel retaliated. Reinforcements were rushed to the spot, and efforts were made to evacuate the injured commandos by a helicopter.

Bijapur is one of the 18 Naxal-hit constituencies where voting is underway for the first phase of the Chhattisgarh elections. Even a day before the polls , a Naxal was killed and another was arrested in an encounter between security forces and Left-Wing Extremists in Bijapur district’s Bedre area on Sunday.

These strikes took place just days after Naxals killed four civilians and one Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel in an  IED explosion near Bacheli  in Dantewada district. A cameraperson working with Doordarshan and two police officers were killed in a Naxal  attack on 30 October .

The attacks come in the wake of threats by the insurgents to boycott the “fake Chhattisgarh elections”. They had even threatened to chop off the inked fingers of voters, but the 18 constituencies that went to the polls in the first phase of the elections have had a 49.12 percent voter turnout till 3.45 pm.

With inputs from 101Reporters

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