PM Modi says ‘sacrifices will never be forgotten’ as 5 jawans die in Bastar encounter

Source : Hindustan Times

Image Credit : The Federal 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday condoled the death of soldiers who lost their lives in an encounter with Maoists in Chhattisgarh and wished speedy recovery to the injured. “My thoughts are with the families of those martyred while fighting Maoists in Chhattisgarh. The sacrifices of the brave martyrs will never be forgotten. May the injured recover at the earliest,” Modi wrote on Twitter.

PM Modi’s post came hours after five jawans were killed and 12 others were injured during a gunbattle between security forces and Maoists in the forests at the Bijapur and Sukma districts.“The encounter lasted about three hours inside the jungle. The injured were airlifted to Raipur and an operation was underway to evacuate the injured jawans and bodies from the forest through helicopters. More details are awaited,” the said Director-General of Police (DGP), Chhattisgarh, DM Awasthi said.

The body of a woman Maoist was also recovered from the encounter spot, news agency PTI reported citing police officials.

According to people familiar with the developments cited by news agency ANI, the Indian Air Force has deployed Mi-17 helicopters to help the paramilitary forces in rescue operations in Sukma.

The encounter broke out as security forces in Chhattisgarh had been receiving information about the whereabouts of Madvi Hidma, a top Maoist of banned CPI (Maoist) who has been linked to major attacks including the 2013 Jhiram Ghati killings, ANI reported.

The agency cited CRPF sources saying that the search for the Maoist may have triggered the encounter. According to inputs received by the security forces the location of People’s Liberation Guerilla Army (PLGA) ‘commander’ was close to the place of encounter, they added. “We have been receiving inputs of the location of Hidma in Sukma district which borders Bijapur. A joint team of DRG, Bastar Battalion, CRPF CoBRA left for jungle area after information was received,” a senior CRPF official deployed in Naxal-hit area told ANI.