NEW DELHI, June 15: Eight Naxalites and one security officer were killed in an encounter in Narayanpur district in Chhattisgarh on Saturday, police said.
Two other security personnel sustained injuries in the incident, they said. The gunfight broke out on Saturday morning in the forest of Abhujmad when a joint team of the security personnel from four districts — Narayanpur, Kanker, Dantewada and Kondagaon — was out on an anti-Naxal operation.
The police said in the evening that the exchange of fire was still continuing. “Eight Naxalites have been killed in the face-off so far. One jawan was martyred in the gunfight and two others suffered injuries,” he added.
The operation involving the personnel of the District Reserve Guard (DRG) from four districts, the Special Task Force (STF) and the 53rd battalion of the Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) was launched on June 12, he said.
More details of the encounter would be known only after the police party returned from the forest areas, the police said.
(Manas Dasgupta)
