Chhattisgarh: 3 CRPF personnel killed, 14 injured in Bastar Naxal attack

New Delhi, January 30

Three personnel of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), including two commandos of its elite jungle warfare unit CoBRA, were killed and 14 injured in an encounter with Maoists in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar region on Tuesday.

The incident, which is the first major Naxal attack since the new BJP government came to power in the state last month, took place hours after a security camp was set up in Tekulagudem village, around 600 km away from Raipur.

In 2021, 23 security personnel were killed in a similar attack in Tekulagudem.

According to reports, after setting up the new camp, a joint team of CoBRA, the Special Task Force and the District Reserve Guard was conducting anti-Naxal operations in the Jonaguda-Aliguda area when Maoists opened fire. The security personnel retaliated following which Maoists ran into the forest area.

The 14 injured personnel have been airlifted to Raipur.

The attack comes days after Home Minister Amit Shah held a meeting to discuss the Left-wing extremism situation in Chhattisgarh.