Bhubaneshwar, June 22:
As many as three CRPF jawans were killed and several others sustained injuries in a Naxal attack along the Chhattisgarh-Odisha border.
The Road Opening Party (ROP) of the 19th Battalion Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) was attacked at Nuapada on the Chhattisgarh-Odisha border on Tuesday afternoon.
The CRPF troops were targeted at Sahajpani village under the Boden police station in the Nuapada district of Odisha around 2:30 pm on Tuesday. The troops retaliated, forcing the Maoists to flee. The deceased jawans are ASI Shishu Pal Singh, ASI Shiv Lal, and Constable Dharmendra Kumar Singh.
As it began raining when the jawans were in transit to a new camp for road opening, the three jawans had taken cover under a tarpaulin. The red-ultras started indiscriminate firing on the jawans, killing all three on the spot, said CRPF sources.
IG Police (operations) Amitabh Thakur said the Naxals also snatched three AK-47 rifles from the deceased jawans and fled the spot.
Meanwhile, Nuapada SP and senior officers of CRPF reached the spot. The combing operation has been intensified in the area. More teams of SOG and CRPF have been pressed into operation.
The state government has announced an ex gratia of Rs 20 lakh to each of the martyr’s families.
Odisha Police DGP Sunil Bansal expressed deep condolences to the bereaved families. He said operations would continue in the area to track down the Maoists and the supreme sacrifice of the martyrs would not go in vain.
