Jawan injured in face-off with naxals in Chhattisgarh

Raipur: A CoBRA (Commando Battalion for Resolute Action) jawan was on Tuesday injured in an exchange of fire with naxals in the dense forests of Chhattisgarh's insurgency-hit Bijapur district, police said.

The skirmish took place early this morning when a team of CRPF's elite unit - CoBRA 204th battalion was conducting an anti-naxal operation in the interiors of Basaguda police station limits - a naxal hotbed, Bijapur Additional Superintendent of Police Indira Kalyan Elesela told PTI.

While cordoning off the region, located around 450 kms away from the state capital, when security forces reached Puvarti village forests, naxal opened indiscriminate firing on them leaving a constable Deepu Das injured, he said.

However, Maoists soon fled from the spot as jawans launched retaliatory attack on them, he said.

"Das, a constable belonging to CoBRA 204th battalion sustained bullet injuries on his back," Elesela said.

Reinforcement was rushed to the spot and the injured jawan was evacuated from the forests, he said adding that he has been airlifted to Raipur for treatment.