Gadchiroli

A police constable was shot dead allegedly by naxals in Hedri village in the district today.

The incident happened at a market place when the ultras suddenly arrived at the spot and opened fire on the police personnel on bandobast duty, the police said.

The bullets hit constable Deepak Shedmake, attached with Hedri Police Assistance Centre, who succumbed to his injuries, they said.

The naxals fled in the direction of Surjagad hills, a press release issued by the district police said.

Following the incident, anti-naxal operations have been intensified in the area.

Chhattisgarh: CRPF jawan killed, 4 injured in IED blast

Raipur

A CRPF jawan was today killed and four others, including two officers, were injured in an IED blast in Chhattisgarh’s Naxal-hit Sukma district.

The incident occurred in the forests near Murliguda village when a patrol party of the 217th battalion of the force was out to provide security to an under-construction road between Murliguda and Banda under Konta police station limits, Sukma Additional Superintendent of Police Santosh Singh told PTI.

While Head Constable Ranga Raghavan succumbed to his splinter injuries later in the day, injured Deputy Commandant Shyam Niwas is critical and his colleague and DC Prabhat Tripathi and two other jawans are stable.

The team ventured out from the Murliguda paramilitary camp for patrolling around 9 AM and the improvised explosive blast occurred soon after when they reached just about 500 m away from the camp.

The personnel inadvertently stepped over a pressure IED hidden beneath the dirt track by the Naxals, the ASP said.

The injured personnel who first evacuated to Bhadrachalam were later airlifted to Hyderabad for further treatment, the ASP added.

Naxals torch bus in Chhattisgarh

Raipur

Naxals today torched a private bus after asking its passengers to get down in insurgency-hit Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh, police said.

The incident took place this evening near Bandepara village in Kutru police station area when the private bus was on its way to Bedre from Bijapur, district superintendent of police K L Dhruv told PTI.

A group of 15-20 Naxals, some of them armed, stopped the bus near Bandepara, some 450 km from here. After asking the passengers to get down they set it afire.

Sixteen passengers who were travelling by the bus are safe, the SP added.

Security forces have launched a combing operation in the region following the incident.

Naxals have given a call for general strike in south Bastar tomorrow, to protest alleged fake encounters.

PTI