Two Naxals killed in separate encounters in Chhattisgarh’s Sukma, Narayanpur districts; one STF jawan injured

Raipur: Two Naxals were killed and a Special Task Force (STF) jawan was injured in separate encounters in Chhattisgarh’s Sukma and Narayanpur districts on Wednesday, police said. In the Sukma incident, the skirmish took place in a forest near Tondamarka village when a team of the District Reserve Guard (DRG) was out on a counter-insurgency operation, Inspector General of Police (Bastar range) Sundarraj P told PTI. In another face off that occurred near Kasalpad village, one STF jawan was injured, he added. [caption id=“attachment_4935851” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. AFP[/caption] Separate squads of the DRG, CRPF’s elite unit CoBRA (Commando Battalion for Resolute Action) and the Special Task Force (STF) on Tuesday launched the operation in the forest, located around 450 kilometres from the state capital Raipur, he said. When a DRG patrolling team was cordoning off a forest area on Chintagufa-Chintalnar junction this morning, an exchange of fire broke out between the two sides, he said. The body of an ultra was later recovered from the spot, he said. When security forces were returning after the operation, an exchange of fire took place in the forest near Kasalpad that left one STF jawan injured, he said. On Tuesday, a CoBRA commando was killed and another injured in a gunfight with Naxals in Kistaram area of Sukma. In another incident, a Naxal was gunned down in an encounter with the security forces in Abhujmad area of Narayanpur district around 1 pm near Ikul village, police said. Abhujmad is a naxal stronghold nestled in deep forests, located around 350 kms away from the state capital. “After a brief exchange of fire, ultras escaped into the dense forest. During the search, the body of a naxal was recovered from the spot,” said superintendent of police, Narayanpur, Mohit Garg. The identity of the deceased ultra was yet to be ascertained, he added.