CRPF officer killed in Naxal encounter in Chhattisgarh

A security person stands near the body of one of the victims of Saturday's Maoist attack in a densely forested area in Bastar, about 345 kilometers (215 miles) south of Raipur, Chhattisgarh state, India, Sunday, May 26, 2013. Officials reacted with outrage Sunday to an audacious attack by about 200 suspected Maoist rebels who set off a roadside bomb and opened fire on a convoy carrying Indian ruling Congress party leaders and members in an eastern state, killing at least 24 people and wounding 37 others. AP photo

A CRPF officer was today killed in an encounter with suspected Naxalites in Gariaband district of Chhattisgarh.

Assistant Commandant S K Das of the force was leading a squad of his men in the forests of Gariaband, 150kms from here, when the patrol encountered an armed Naxal squad at around 3pm.

Das succumbed to bullet injuries which he had received in his abdomen and groin region, sources said.

He was leading a team of CRPF men belonging to the 211 battalion for a special anti-Naxal operation in the area.

The Naxals had carried out a deadly ambush in the Darbha valley area of Bastar in the state on May 25 killing 27 people including state PCC chief Nand Kumar Patel and another prominent party leader Mahendra Karma.

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