CRPF officer killed in Naxal attack in Chhattisgarh
A Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) officer was killed and a trooper was injured in a gunfight with Naxalites in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur district on Saturday, an official said.
The incident took place around 9.30 a.m. near a rivulet close to Putkel village when a team of CRPF’s 168th Battalion was on patrol, Inspector General of Police (Bastar range) P Sundarraj said.When the team was cordoning off a forest near the Dongal Chinta rivulet, it came under heavy fire from a group of Maoists leading to the gunfight, he said.
Assistant Commandant Shanti Bhusan Tirkey was killed while a CRPF trooper, Appa Rao, sustained injuries, the officer added. After being alerted, reinforcement rushed to the spot. The situation is under control, he said.The injured trooper and the body of the officer were shifted out of the forest, he said, adding a search operation was underway in nearby areas. The martyred officer hailed from Jharkhand.
The mortal remains of the officer were shifted to a Jagdalpur (Bastar district) hospital for autopsy.
The injured trooper is undergoing treatment at a medical facility in Bijapur. Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel expressed grief over the death of the CRPF officer.
