Chhattisgarh: STF jawan injured in encounter with Naxals succumbs to injuries; encounter still underway

A Special Task Force (STF) jawan, who was critically injured late Sunday evening in an encounter with Naxals in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur district, died on Monday, police said.

“Constable Salabh Upadhyay died in the wee hours while he was being air-lifted from Basaguda for treatment,” Deputy Inspector General of Police (Dantewada region) Sundarraj P told PTI.

Upadhyay had sustained bullet injuries on his head in the gun-battle between a joint team of security forces and ultras which took place in a restive forest pocket of Bijapur’s Basaguda police station area late last evening, he said.

The chopper was sent in the wee hours and while the jawan was being retrieved, he succumbed to his injuries, he added.

The deceased was a native of Bhadohi district in Uttar Pradesh.

Joint teams of Special Task Force (STF), District Reserve Guard (DRG), CoBRA (Commando Battalion for Resolute Action) and district police were out on an operation based on inputs about the location of Maoist hideouts in Basaguda and Awapalli police area of Bijapur since Saturday (May 13).

The counter insurgency operations are still underway in the region, the DIG added.

On Sunday, two policemen were injured in a gun battle with Naxals in the same Basaguda area. They were airlifted to Raipur where they have been admitted in a private hospital.

Read | Chhattisgarh Naxal encounter: 2 DRG personnel injured and evacuated by Indian Air Force, search ops on