Efforts on to trace jawan: Chhattisgarh cops

Raipur, April 6

The police are exploring all channels, including contacting local villagers, to trace the missing CoBRA commando whom the Maoists claim to have abducted after an encounter in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar region three days ago, a senior official said on Tuesday.

Police informers have also been activated to gather information about the missing jawan, he said.

Constable Rakeshwar Singh Manhas of 210th Battalion of CoBRA (Commando Battalion for Resolute Action), an elite unit of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), went missing on Saturday after the gunfight along the border of Sukma and Bijapur districts.

Twenty-two security personnel were killed and 31 others were injured in the fierce gunbattle.

A journalist from Sukma on Monday said he had got a call from Maoists, claiming the commando was in their captivity and he would not be harmed.

“As of now we cannot confirm that the missing jawan is in the captivity of Naxals as they haven’t issued any statement or photographs in this connection. We are trying to trace him through all possible channels,” Sundarraj P, Inspector General of Police (Bastar range), said.

The police are also contacting local villagers to check if they have any information related to the missing jawan, he said.

Another senior police official posted in Bastar said there was a strong possibility of the jawan being in the captivity of Naxals because the forces cordoned off the entire encounter site and area around it in the last two days, but could not find him. — PTI