A Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawan was killed and two were injured in an encounter with the outlawed CPI (Maoist) at Timapur in Bijapur district, about 400km south of state capital Raipur on Tuesday. The injured were air-lifted to Raipur for immediate medical attention.
“The CRPF troopers were returning after carrying out the combing operation in Basaguda when the Maoists opened fire on the forces barely 4km away from the Timapur CRPF base camp. In the ensuing gunfight that continued for over an hour, a CRPF constable Sunil Ram succumbed to bullet injuries," the Bijapur additional superintendent of police, Indira Kalyan Elesela, told Hindustan Times.
The combing operation was carried out on an intelligence inputs about the movement of the guerrillas in the region. After the encounter, the armed rebels fled into the jungle. Reinforcements were sent to the area to assist the police for carrying out cordon and search operations.
In April this year, rebels carried out a series of attacks on the security forces in the strife-torn districts of Sukma, Dantewada and Kanker of Bastar zone, killing 14 jawans and leaving 18 injured in the span of three days. The Left-wing extremists were then engaged in their annual 'tactical counter offensive campaign' (TCOC) to regain their strength in south Bastar.
The Maoists are believed to be present in at least 16 out of the 27 districts of the state, but are the most active in south Chhattisgarh’s Bastar having predominant poor tribal population. Bijapur is among the seven districts of Bastar zone worst affected by Maoist violence in south Chhattisgarh.
{{/usCountry}}The Maoists are believed to be present in at least 16 out of the 27 districts of the state, but are the most active in south Chhattisgarh’s Bastar having predominant poor tribal population. Bijapur is among the seven districts of Bastar zone worst affected by Maoist violence in south Chhattisgarh.
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