Four police personnel were killed and nine others injured in a fierce gun-battle with Naxals, who ambushed their team in a dense forest in Chhattisgarh’s Narayanpur district on Wednesday, a top official said.
The skirmish took place in the forest of Irpanar village in Abhujmad area, considered a Naxal hotbed, when a police team was out on an anti-Naxal operation, Special Director General of Police (anti-Naxal operations) DM Awasthi said.
“Sub inspectors Vinod Kaushik and Moolchand Singh Kanwar and constables Devnath Pujari and Raisingh Markam belonging to the DRG (District Reserve Guard of police) were killed and
seven other personnel sustained injuries in the encounter,” he said.
Of the injured, seven are DRG personnel and other two belong to the Special Task Force of the State police.
The team of DRG and Special Task Force, comprising around 400 personnel, was carrying out the operation for the past two days in the interior pockets of Abhujmad, around 350 km away from Raipur, he said.
Around 11 am, when the team was combing Irpanar forest, it came under heavy firing from a group of armed ultras which led to an exchange of fire. The fierce gun-battle lasted for about three hours, Awasthi said.
The injured personnel were airlifted to Raipur and admitted at a private hospital, Awasthi said.