Bijapur gunfight: 21 security personnel missing
TNN Bureau. Updated: 4/4/2021 2:36:53 PM
National
April 04: Twenty-one security personnel, including seven from the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), involved in a gun battle with Maoists have been missing since the confrontation in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur a day ago, officials said on Sunday.
“Search parties have been sent to the forest, where the encounter took place, to look for the missing personnel this morning,” state director general of police DM Awasthi told News18 on Sunday.
CRPF director general Kuldiep Singh, who has reached Chhattisgarh, confirmed to news agency ANI that seven of the 21 missing were from his force. The others are from the state’s District Reserve Group (DRG) and a Special Task Force (STF), officials who spoke on condition of anonymity said.
On Saturday, five personnel died and 12 were wounded in the second major attack in the Maoist-hit Bastar region in 10 days. The ambush was suspected to have been led by Hidma, the notorious People’s Liberation Guerilla Army (PLGA) commander of the outlawed CPI (Maoist). He is believed to have been involved in several major attacks, including the one in 2013 that killed 27, including top state Congress leaders.