Raipur: The Cobra commando injured in the attack on security personnel by Naxalites in Bastar region of Chhattisgarh on Tuesday said that this has not affected his morale and he will soon return to the forests to be a part of the operation. Three Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) soldiers, including two from the force's special unit 'Cobra', were killed in the encounter near Tekalgudem village in Sukma district. 15 soldiers have also been injured in the Naxalite attack.
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Injured soldier Malkit Singh is being treated in a private hospital in Raipur. He said the encounter lasted for more than four hours. He said the attack was carried out when the security personnel were engaged in cleaning the area after setting up a new camp in Tekalgudem, a Maoist stronghold on the border of Sukma-Bijapur district.
According to the police, more than 1,500 personnel from the Special Task Force (STF) and District Reserve Guard (DRG) units of the state police and the CRPF and its CoBRA unit were involved in the operation. Singh said, “We (Cobra personnel) reached Tekalgudem between 9.30 am and 10 am on Tuesday because a new camp was being built there. Then we started siege in the area. Initially some (suspects) were seen keeping surveillance. They had clearly come to do recce on us.
He said that suddenly a large number of Naxalites came and started firing. They were also firing BGL (Barrel Grenade Launcher) shells. “We immediately took charge and started retaliating,” Singh said.
He told that the number of Naxalites was around 300-400 and women were also included among them. Singh claimed, “We saw that at least 15 to 20 Naxalites fell after being hit by bullets and were taken inside the forest by their comrades.”
He told, “A bullet hit me near my shoulder. Injured personnel were being evacuated amid the firing. I walked for about two kilometers to reach the vehicle that took us out.'' Three soldiers were martyred in this attack, including constables Devan C and Pawan Kumar of the 201st contingent of Cobra and constable Lambghar Sinha of the 150th contingent of CRPF. All the injured soldiers including Singh are part of the 201st contingent of Cobra.
(This news has not been edited by NDTV team. It is published directly from the syndicate feed.)
