COBRA commando and Maoist killed in Bijapur encounter; 2 soldiers injured
A Maoist and a CoBRA commando were killed in the Sukma district of Chhattisgarh during an anti-Naxal operation.
Aadrika Tayal 
New Delhi (India) May 23: An encounter with the banned Communist Party of India (Maoists) on the border between Bijapur and Sukma in Chhattisgarh on Thursday morning resulted in the death of a jawan from the Central Reserve Police Force's specialized Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA).The encounter also killed a Maoist and injured two other commandos.
Mehul Solanki was recognized as the commando who died.
A senior police official said, “An encounter is going on intermittently between the security forces and Maoists since Thursday morning. On searching the encounter site, the body of one Maoist, weapons, and Maoist material have been recovered. The body of the Maoist is being identified.”
“The operation is being led by the 210th battalion of CRPF’s CoBRA and has troops from Chhattisgarh Police, DRG (district reserve guard) and STF (special task force) following an intel of Maoists camping in the jungle.”
The security forces received intelligence inputs about the presence of Maoists in Tumrel, which is in the Bijapur district near the Sukma border. The clash started between 10 and 11 a.m.
The Sukma District Reserve Guard (DRG), Special Task Force (STF), and CoBRA battalion 210, a specialised unit of the Central Reserve Police Force conducted a planned joint operation.
Three 210 CoBRA Battalion commandos were injured in the encounter. The others have been moved to Raipur for treatment after one of them passed away.
The officials said that, “An Indian Air Force helicopter has been deployed to evacuate the injured.”
The encounter took place the day after 27 Maoists were shot dead in the Narayanpur district, including Nambala Keshav Rao, also known as Basavaraju, the general secretary of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist).
Security forces are conducting ongoing operations in states affected by Left Wing Extremism (LWE) in order to meet the Union government's goal of eliminating the threat by March of next year.
Aadrika Tayal
