Naxalite killed in encounter with security personnel in Chhattisgarh

Raipur: A Naxalite was killed in an encounter with security personnel in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district on Monday morning, a police official said.

The gunfight took place in a forest under Kistaram police station area when a joint team of security personnel was out on an anti-Naxal operation, Sukma Superintendent of Police Kiran G Chavan told PTI.

Personnel belonging to the District Reserve Guard and Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA - an elite unit of the Central Reserve Police Force) were involved in the operation, he said.

After the exchange of fire stopped, the body of a Naxalite and a weapon were recovered from the spot, the official said.

The identity of the deceased was yet to be ascertained, he said, adding that search operation was still underway in the area.

Following this incident, 33 Naxalites have been killed so far this year in separate encounters with security forces in Bastar region, comprising seven districts including Sukma, according to police.

Sukma district comes under the Bastar Lok Sabha constituency, which will go to polls in the first phase of elections on April 19.