CoBRA commando killed in encounter with Naxals in Chhattisgarh’s Sukma

Raipur, December 31

A commando of the CRPF’s jungle warfare unit CoBRA was killed in an encounter with Naxals in Chhattisgarh’s Sukma district on Friday, a police official said.

The gunfight took place in Palachalma forest under Kistaram police station limits when a team of the 208th battalion of the Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA) was out on an anti-Naxal operation, Sukma Superintendent of Police Sunil Sharma told PTI.

When the patrolling team was cordoning off the forest, located over 450 kilometres from here, an exchange of fire took place, he said.

“Constable Virendra Singh, belonging to CoBRA’s 208th battalion, suffered a bullet injury on his chest and was shifted to the CRPF’s field hospital in Kistaram. Preparations were being made to airlift him to Raipur for further treatment but he succumbed by then,” the SP said.

Sukma is part of the state’s Left Wing Extremism-hit south Bastar region where the Central Reserve Police Force and its CoBRA units are extensively deployed to quell the Maoist menace. PTI