JOIN USAccording to a report reaching state headquarters from the tribal-dominated Sundergarh district, which borders Jharkhand, the gun battle began on Saturday evening when the security personnel were conducting a combing operation in the area.
While one jawan died, another has been admitted to Ispat General Hospital in the steel township of Rourkela with bullet injuries. Two Naxalites are also reported to have been killed in the encounter. However, their bodies are yet to be traced.
The body of the killed jawan, Laxman Kisan who belongs to a tribal village in Sundergarh district, had been taken away by the Naxalites. The ultras had announced that they would be handing over the jawan’s body to his family members only in the presence of the media.
Accordingly, the family of Kisan accompanied by a few local mediapersons who included crew of two local TV channels went deep inside the forests on Sunday morning from Rourkela and received the body.
On the request of the killed jawan’s family, security personnel had halted their combing operation for a couple of hours.