After being hurt in Tuesday’s Naxalite attack on security personnel in the Bastar region of Chhattisgarh, a CoBRA commando said his morale remained unaffected and he will soon return to the jungles to continue the fight.
In the intense gunfight near Tekalgudem village in Sukma district, three members of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF)—two of whom were from its specialised jungle warfare unit, CoBRA—were killed and fifteen others were injured.
The interaction, according to Malkit Singh, who is receiving care at a Raipur private hospital, lasted longer than four hours.
According to him, the attack started when security forces were cleaning the area after establishing a new camp in Tekalgudem, a Maoist stronghold near the border between the Sukma and Bijapur districts.
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Over 1,500 members of the District Reserve Guard (DRG) and Special Task Force (STF), both state police units, as well as the CRPF and its CoBRA unit, participated in the exercise, according to police.
According to Singh, the Naxalites conducted reconnaissance before going on the attack.
“..we (CoBRA personnel) reached Tekalgudem between 9:30 am and 10 am on Tuesday as a new camp was being set up there. Then we took position and launched a cordon in the area. Initially, some (suspects) were seen watching us. They had come to conduct recce to monitor our position. Suddenly a large number of Naxalites appeared and opened fire. They were also firing BGL (barrel grenade launcher) shells,” he said.
“We immediately took position and launched retaliatory action,” Singh added.
The Naxalites numbered around 300-400 and included women cadres, he said.
“We saw at least 15-20 Naxalites falling after being hit by bullets but their colleagues took them to the interior forest,” Singh claimed.
“A bullet hit near my shoulder. Injured personnel were being evacuated amid firing. I walked for about two kilometers to get to the vehicle that evacuated us,” he said.
Of the three personnel who lost their lives, constables Lambghar Sinha was from the CRPF’s 150th battalion, and constables Devan C and Pavan Kumar were from the 201st battalion of the CoBRA.
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Singh and the other wounded soldiers were from CoBRA’s 201st battalion.
“We have been setting up camps in the Maoists’ den, so they have become frustrated,” he said in response to a question about whether he would go back to the field. I will most certainly come back and put up a fierce fight.”
Source: PTI
