RAIPUR: A CRPF officer was killed and a constable injured in a Maoist ambush in the forests of Bijapur district, Bastar, in Chhattisgarh on Saturday.
“CRPF assistant commandant Shanti Bhushan Tirkey was killed while fighting Maoists and jawan Appa Rao was injured,” Bastar Range IG Sundarraj P said.
Tirkey was a native of Jharkhand, Bijapur SP Kamalochan Kashyap said, adding that Rao is now out of danger. The duo was part of a road security detail. At 9.30am, they came under attack near Putkel village from a group of Maoists hiding along a nullah.
Other reports said the CRPF team was ambushed while on its way to intercept a group of Maoists reported to be meeting in a forest. CM Bhupesh Baghel expressed grief over the death of Tirkey.
Security forces are still looking for engineer Ashok Pawar and his colleague Anand Kishore who were abducted by Maoists from a bridge construction site on the banks of Indravati river in Bijapur on Friday. Last Wednesday, Congress worker Dhanshyam Mandavi was killed by Maoists in the same district.