Chhattisgarh Naxal encounter | Bodies of 17 missing cops found

Bodies of 17 security personnel, who were missing after an encounter with Naxals in Sukma district of Chhattisgarh, were found on Sunday, police said.

“Bodies of 17 security personnel were recovered by asearch team and were being evacuated from forests,” Inspector General ofPolice (Bastar range) Sundarraj P told PTI.

   

Earlier, in a major joint offensive, separate teams ofnearly 600 personnel belonging to the District Reserve Guard (DRG), SpecialTask Force (STF) and Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA)- an eliteunit of CRPF, launched an anti-Naxal operation from three sides towardsElmagunda after getting inputs about a huge gathering of ultras there onSaturday.

When the patrolling teams were near Minpa village forests, agroup of around 250 heavily armed ultras ambushed them, leaving 15 personnelinjured, he said.

The gun battle lasted for about two-and-a-half hours, hesaid.

“Later, 17 personnel were found to be missing for whicha search operation was launched. Today, their bodies have been recovered andthe search team is on the way back, he said.

Earlier, the police in a statement said 14 police personnelwere injured and 13 were missing after the gunfight.

The injured personnel were airlifted to Raipur and admittedto a private hospital where the condition of two of them is stated to becritical, he said.According to policesources, at least 16 automatic weapons, including AK47 and an Under BarrelGrenade Launcher (UBGL) were missing following the encounter.

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