Chhattisgarh: Two police personnel killed in gun-battle with Naxals in Rajnandgaon

A police sub-inspector and a constable were killed in a gun-battle with Naxals in insurgency-hit forest areas of Chhattisgarh’s Rajnandgaon district on Sunday.

The skirmish took place this afternoon when a specialised unit of the district force was out on an anti-Maoist operation in the jungle under Gatapar police station area, Inspector General of Police (Durg Range) Dipanshu Kabra told PTI.

A team of E-30, an anti-Naxal force of district police, was cordoning off the forests near Bhave village, over 150 km from Rajnandgaon, when it came under heavy fire from a group of ultras, leading to the encounter.

However, on finding that security personnel were zeroing on them, the rebels fled into the core area of the forest, the IG said, adding, after being informed about the incident, reinforcements were being rushed to the spot.

“Sub-Inspector of Police Yugal Kishore Verma and constable Krish Sahu were killed in the incident,” Kabra said, adding while Verma died on the spot, Sahu succumbed to injuries while being evacuated from the forest.

Bodies of the personnel have been brought to Rajnandgaon district headquarters from where they will be sent to their native places, the officer said.

Verma was a resident of Palari area in the state’s Balodabazar district.

A major portion of Rajnandgaon is bordering Gondia and Gadchiroli in Maharashtra and Balaghat in Madhya Pradesh where Maoist activities have been continuously reported.

As per Maoist documents recovered recently from Bastar region, Naxals are now trying to set up their new base in this tri-junction region.