CoBRA commando, Naxal killed in Sukma encounter

A CoBRA commando of the CRPF and a Naxalite were killed during an anti-Maoist operation in Chhattisgarh’s Sukma district on Thursday, said officials.

The operation — which was still in progress at the time of writing this report — had begun in the Tumrel village area of the district this morning. Security personnel were trying to ascertain the identity of the slain Maoist, said sources aware of the development.

The operation was being led by the 210th battalion of the CRPF’s CoBRA with troops from the Chhattisgarh Police’s District Reserve Guards and the STF, officials further said.

They added that extensive search operations were on in the area to trace other Naxals as well as arms and ammunitions.

On May 21, security forces had received inputs regarding the presence of Maoists at Tumrel, which borders Sukma and Bijapur districts of Chhattisgarh. Subsequently, a team of the CoBRA, DRG of the Chhattisgarh Police and Special Task Force (STF) was dispatched to the location, the police sources said.

Three security personnel of the 210th Battalion of CRPF had sustained injuries during the encounter, who were immediately dispatched to Raipur for treatment. However, one of the jawans succumbed to his injuries during treatment.

On May 21, a DRG-led team of the Chhattisgarh Police had killed 27 Naxals, including Nambala Keshav Rao, the general secretary of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) in Abujhmad region. Rao had been part of the Naxalite movement since the late 1970s and was one of its most feared strategists.