Two Naxals killed in separate encounters in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district; police officer injured in Gangaloor gunfight

Raipur: Two Naxals were killed and a police personnel was injured in encounters in Chhattisgarh’s insurgency-hit Bijapur district Sunday, police said. The gunbattles took place when teams of police’s District Reserve Guard (DRG) of and Special Task Force (STF) were out on anti-Naxal operations in Gangaloor and Madded areas. Superintendent of Police Mohit Garg said that a combined squad of DRG and STF was cordoning off the jungles between Nilamadgu and Korinjed in Madded area, 450 kilometres from Raipur, when it came under fire from the rebels. [caption id=“attachment_4214419” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. PTI[/caption] The exchange of fire lasted for 40 minutes after, which the Naxals fled, he said. “A DRG jawan sustained a bullet injury in the neck. He is being shifted to hospital,” Garg said. The body of a Naxal was recovered along with one .303 rifle and one muzzle-loading gun from the spot, he said. Elsewhere, an exchange of fire broke out between a DRG team and Naxals around 2.30 pm in a forest near Borje village in Gangaloor area, Garg said. A reinforcement party was rushed to the spot, which, too, came under fire around 4 pm, leading to a fierce gun battle, he said. Later, the body of a Naxal along with two rifles and a “tiffin bomb” was recovered from the spot. Identity of the killed Naxals was yet to be ascertained, the police officer said.