One Cobra jawan killed, 3 hurt in Naxal encounter

A security personnel of elite Cobra battalion was killed and three others were seriously injured in an encounter with Maoists at Gangalur in Bijapur district about 350 km south of Raipur late on Friday night. Ejaz Kaiser reports.

A security personnel of elite Cobra battalion was killed and three others were seriously injured in an encounter with Maoists at Gangalur in Bijapur district about 350 km south of Raipur late on Friday night.

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According to the CRPF inspector general Zulfiquar Hasan, the incident occurred when the joint party of the CRPF and the state police was on combing operation in the remote interior of Gangalur.

“The encounter took place at around midnight. One Cobra personnel was killed. Further information is awaited”, Hasan told Hindustan Times. The Cobra (Commando Battalion for Resolute Action) is a specialized unit of CRPF.

According to the Bijapur police the rebels opened fire on the party near Ekalmeta village close to the Cobra battalion base camp. The three seriously injured troopers are to be shifted to Maharani Hospital in Jagdalpur, said the police. The forces recovered the body of a Maoist from the encounter site.

On Friday, the guerillas killed a head constable of special task force (STF) in an encounter in Sukma, south Bastar.

The seven districts of Bastar zone, south Chhattisgarh, have a strong presence of left-wing extremists.