STF jawan injured in encounter with Naxals in Chhattisgarh

A Special Task Force (STF) jawan was injured in a gun battle between Naxals and security personnel at a forest in Chhattisgarh's Gariaband district on Sunday, a police official said.

The encounter broke out early morning in the Devdongar forest area under Manipur police station limits, located over 200 km from the state capital Raipur when the STF was out on an anti-Maoist operation, he said.

Acting on a specific input about the movement of ultras in the area, bordering with Odisha, two teams of the STF had launched the operation there on Saturday night, he said.

When one of the patrolling teams was advancing through a hill, it came under fire from a group of armed Naxals that led to the encounter, he said.

After a brief exchange of fire, the rebels fled into the dense forest towards Odisha, he said.

"An STF jawan, identified as Yuvraj Sagar, suffered a bullet injury in his abdomen. He was rushed to a local hospital from where he was referred to Raipur for further treatment,'' the official said.

A team of the District Reserve Guard (DRG) and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) was rushed to the spot and the Odisha police were also intimated, he said adding that search operation was underway in the area.