By IANS
Raipur : As many as 12 policemen were missing Wednesday in a forested region of Chhattisgarh’s Dantewada district after a fierce gun battle with armed Maoist militants, police said.
“Twelve policemen, a majority of them special police officers (SPOs) and Chhattisgarh Armed Forces personnel, are missing after a fierce encounter with rebels in a forested pocket in Dantewada district,” Inspector General Girdhari Nayak told IANS by phone.
“The gun battle broke out when two separate police platoons numbering 40 cops went to a thick forested area of Tadmetla for road opening. Firefighting began when rebels attacked one of the search teams from behind, injuring six cops,” he added.
Nayak said that at least an hour after the gun battle that ended around 4 p.m., 28 cops had returned to the camp.
“A search team led by superintendent of police Rahul Sharma has left for the encounter site to trace the missing cops,” the official added.