Raipur: Five more bodies of anti-Naxal force CoBRA personnel were recovered Saturday, including that of
an Assistant Commandant, killed in a fierce gunbattle with
Naxals in Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh.
With this, the total number of security personnel
killed in the gunbattle yesterday has gone up to six.
CoBRA sources said today that the bodies of Assistant
Commandant Rakesh Chaurasia, a sub-inspector, a head constable
and two constables were recovered during combing operation in
the thick forests near Singamadagu of the district.
Assistant Commandant of the force Manoranjan Singh was
also killed in the encounter yesterday.
Personnel of the 201 Commando Battalion for Resolute
Action along with state police and CRPF personnel
had launched a major offensive against the Naxals following
specific inputs about a large number of Naxals being present
in the forests.
During the operation which had began on Thursday
morning, the force had unearthed an makeshift arms factory of
the Maoists besides recovering bodies of nine Naxals killed in
the encounter and seized over a dozen guns and grenades.
While the securitymen had succeeded in unearthing the
arms factory, a group of CoBRA personnel combing the same
location had come under sudden fire from the Naxals, the
sources said.
The security forces suspect the presence of over 200
Naxals in the area with the likelihood of more than two dozen
Naxals being killed as drag marks were found in the forests.
The Naxals usually drag back the bodies of their men
to avoid any identification.
Bureau Report
