By IANS,
Nagpur : Three security personnel were killed in a gun-battle with Maoists in Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra Saturday, an official said. Three guerrillas too were gunned down.
A Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) company had gone to Makadchuha village Saturday morning after a tip-off that a group of Maoists was hiding there, Anti-Naxal Operations chief Rahul Sheth said.
“When the CRPF company cordoned off the village, the Maoists taking refuge there opened fire, seriously injuring our men, including Vitthal Pawar, who is the head of the commando unit,” Sheth told IANS.
Three personnel later succumbed to their injuries. They have been identified as Yasser Ahmed of Kupwara, Kashmir, and Pardesi Suka Devangan and Chandrashekhar S. Kore, both from Maharashtra.
Besides Pawar, another CRPF jawan Chandan Nath of Assam was injured and the two have been airlifted to a hospital in Nagpur.
Sheth said that the police recovered the body of one Maoist along with a .303 gun, but the bodies of two other Maoists gunned down were taken away by the guerrillas.
Sheth said the CRPF operation followed a high alert which was implemented in Gadchiroli in the wake of Friday’s Maoist attacks which left 11 security personnel dead in the neighbouring Chhattisgarh state.