CoBRA jawan killed in gunbattle with Naxals

Raipur: A CoBRA jawan was killed and another injured in a fierce gun-battle with Naxals in a dense forest pocket of Chhattisgarh's insurgency-hit Sukma district on Saturday, police said.

The skirmish took place in the core forests of Bhejji police station area when a squad of CoBRA's 208th battalion - an elite unit of CRPF - was out on an anti-Naxals operation in the region, around 500 kms away from here, a senior police official told PTI.

Security forces had undertaken the operation based on specific inputs about the movement of dreaded Maoist commander Hidma with his group in the region, he said.

When the CoBRA (Commando Battalion for Resolute Action) jawans were patrolling the forest between Ettrajpad and Gachonpally villages, a group of Naxals opened indiscriminate fire on them leading to a heavy gunbattle, he said.

As per preliminary information, a constable-rank jawan was killed and another injured, the official said, adding reinforcement was immediately rushed to the spot.

Efforts are on to take the deceased and injured personnel out of the forests, he added.