Home » 22 jawans killed in an encounter with Naxals in Chhatisgarh

22 jawans killed in an encounter with Naxals in Chhatisgarh

by Raju Vernekar
0 comment 3 minutes read

IT Correspondent
Nagpur, April 4 :

Nearly 22 jawans  killed and 31 jawans were injured, while one jawan was reported missing in an encounter between Naxals and security personnel along the border between Bijapur and Sukma districts in Chhattisgarh(near Maharashtra) on Saturday night.
Among the martyred personnel, one belonged to the CoBRA unit and two each were from the District Reserve Guard (DRG) and the ‘Bastariya’ battalion of the CRPF. Out of 31 injured 16 are CRPF personnel.  The injured jawans, have been admitted to hospitals in Bijapur and Raipur.
The fierce four-hour long encounter took place in the forests of South Bastar on Saturday. While 5 jawans were killed on Saturday, 21 were found missing on Sunday afternoon. Later  Bijapur Superintendent of Police (SP) Kamalochan Kashyap confirmed that 22 security personnel lost their lives in the Naxal attack. The bodies of 15 Naxals were recovered from the encounter site.
A joint teams of security forces, over 2,000 in number, had launched a major anti-Naxal operation from Bijapur and Sukma districts in the South Bastar forests, considered as the Maoist stronghold, Chhatisgarh Deputy Inspector General (anti-Naxal operations) OP Pal said.
The personnel belonging to the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), its elite unit CoBRA (Commando Battalion for Resolute Action), the DRG and the Special Task Force (STF) were involved in the operation launched from five places – Tarrem, Usoor and Pamed (Bijapur) and Minpa and Narsapuram (Sukma).
“Around noon on Saturday, an encounter broke out between the patrolling team that was dispatched from Tarrem and ultras belonging PLGA (Peoples’ Liberation Guerilla Army) battalion of Maoists near Jonaguda village under Jagargunda police station area (in Sukma),” Pal said, adding the gunfight lasted for about three hours.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah spoke to Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel and took stock of the situation. He also directed Director General of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) Kuldip Singh to visit Chhattisgarh to assess the situation. Shah also said in a tweet that the valour of the security personnel who laid down their lives fighting the extremists will never be forgotten.
President Ram Nath Kovind condoled the loss of lives in Sukma encounter saying the nation will never forget this sacrifice. “The killing of the security personnel while battling Maoist insurgency in Chhattisgarh is a matter of deep anguish. My condolences to the bereaved families. The nation shares their pain and will never forget this sacrifice: President Ram Nath Kovind on Chhattisgarh Naxal attack,” the President tweeted.
Condoling the deaths of the security personnel, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said their sacrifices will never be forgotten. “My thoughts are with the families of those martyred while fighting Maoists in Chhattisgarh. The sacrifices of the brave martyrs will never be forgotten. May the injured recover at the earliest,” PM Modi said in a tweet.
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel condemned the incident saying the martyrdom of the jawans will not go in vain, and the anti-Naxal operation will be intensified. “Our jawans have displayed exemplary courage by inflicting massive damage on Naxals.  Operation against Naxals will be intensified,” the CM said. Expressing his condolences, he  directed officials to ensure the best treatment to the injured jawans.
This was the second major Naxal incident in the state in the last 10 days. On March 23, five DRG personnel were killed when Naxals blew up a bus carrying the security personnel with an IED in Narayanpur district. On March 21 last year, 17 security personnel, including 12 from DRG, were killed in a Naxal ambush in Minpa area of Sukma district.

You may also like

Leave a Comment

ABOUT US

Imphal Times is a daily English newspaper published in Imphal and is registered with Registrar of the Newspapers for India with Regd. No MANENG/2013/51092

FOLLOW US ON IG

©2023 – All Right Reserved. Designed and Hosted by eManipur!

Adblock Detected

Please support us by disabling your AdBlocker extension from your browsers for our website.