Chhattisgarh Naxal Encounter: CRPF Officer Killed, Jawan Injured

The senior police official added that one jawan was also injured during an exchange of fire with the Naxals.

Naxals in Dantewada | Representational Image (Getty)

New Delhi: A Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) was killed in an encounter with the Naxals in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur district.

P Sundarraj, Inspector General of Police, Bastar Range, said the Assistant Commandant of CRPF 168 battalion was killed in an encounter with the Naxals in the jungle of Putkel under Basaguda Police Station limits, ANI reported.

The senior police official added that one jawan was also injured during an exchange of fire with the Naxals.

Assistant Commandant S.B. Tirkey suffered bullet injuries and later succumbed to injuries, the officials said, PTI reported.

The incident took place when a CRPF patrol of the 168th battalion was out for a road opening and sanitising duty.

A combing operation is currently underway in the area post the encounter with the Naxals.

In a bid to end Left Wing Extremism in the Maoist-affected states, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had earlier on September 26 last year asked the chief ministers of the states facing Maoist insurgencies to take steps to ensure that the problem can be eradicated within a year.

Addressing the chief ministers of Bihar, Odisha, Maharashtra, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand, Shah urged them to give priority to the problem of Left Wing Extremism for the next one year, so that a permanent solution can be found in this problem.

He said that it requires building pressure, increasing speed and better coordination.

Asserting it is very important to neutralize the sources of income of the Left Wing Extremists, Shah said the agencies of the central and state governments should try to stop this by making a system together.