Clashes, low turnout mar Raipur South by-election
The outcome of this by-election is seen as a critical prelude to the upcoming municipal elections, with both parties keen to maintain their influence.
Two Naxals were killed and a police personnel was injured in encounters in Chhattisgarh’s insurgency-hit Bijapur district Sunday, police said.
The gun-battles took place when teams of police’s District Reserve Guard (DRG) of and Special Task Force (STF) were out on anti-Naxal operations in Gangaloor and Madded areas.
Superintendent of Police Mohit Garg told PTI that a combined squad of DRG and STF was cordoning off the jungles between Nilamadgu and Korinjed in Madded area, 450 km from Raipur, when it came under fire from the rebels.
Advertisement
The exchange of fire lasted for 40 minutes after which the Naxals fled, he said.
“A DRG jawan sustained a bullet injury in the neck. He is being shifted to hospital,” Garg said.
The body of a Naxal was recovered alongwith one .303 rifle and one muzzle-loading gun from the spot, he said.
Elsewhere, an exchange of fire broke out between a DRG team and Naxals around 2.30 pm in a forest near Borje village in Gangaloor area, the SP said.
A reinforcement party was rushed to the spot which too came under fire around 4 pm, leading to a fierce gun battle, he said.
Later, the body of a Naxal along with two rifles and a `tiffin’ bomb was recovered from the spot.
The identity of the killed Naxals was yet to be ascertained, the police officer said.
Advertisement
