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RAIPUR: The New Year started on a tragic note in Bastar as a six-month-old baby was killed and her mother injured, when they were caught in the crossfire during an encounter between security forces and Maoists in Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh on Monday evening. Two District Reserve Guards (DRG) jawans were also injured in the gunfight.
The forces have been on the offensive on the orders of chief minister Vishnu Deo Sai following a string of Maoist attacks last month.Monday’s gun battle erupted at Mutvandi village in a forest region, around 45 km from Bijapur town.
A joint force of CRPF and DRG went out on an area domination operation in the forests of Gangaloor, a Maoist hotbed, on getting specific intelligence that Bhairamgarh area committee secretary Chandranna and area committee member Mangli were camping there with a large group of insurgents.
Around 5 pm, as the DRG personnel closed in on the Maoist camp, the insurgents began firing at them, said Bastar IG P Sundarraj. The police retaliated, and a fierce gunfight began, said police.
Tragically, a mother and child were passing by and they were caught in the hail of bullets. The woman was injured in both arms, but the infant was killed. Sundarraj said the security forces had to make a strategic retreat after two of their personnel were hit by Maoists’ bullets. Both the injured personnel were immediately evacuated, and reinforcements were dispatched to continue the operation, said the IG.
Villagers rushed to the nearby security force camp in Kaved village and informed the cops about the civilian casualty. The injured woman was taken to the district hospital, where her condition is stable, said the IG.
Senior police officers have met the woman in hospital and a team has gone to her house in the village to provide assistance, he said.
This is the first time that a newborn has been killed in Bastar. In 2016, an eight-year-old boy died in an IED blast in Sukma.
The forces have been on the offensive on the orders of chief minister Vishnu Deo Sai following a string of Maoist attacks last month.Monday’s gun battle erupted at Mutvandi village in a forest region, around 45 km from Bijapur town.
A joint force of CRPF and DRG went out on an area domination operation in the forests of Gangaloor, a Maoist hotbed, on getting specific intelligence that Bhairamgarh area committee secretary Chandranna and area committee member Mangli were camping there with a large group of insurgents.
Around 5 pm, as the DRG personnel closed in on the Maoist camp, the insurgents began firing at them, said Bastar IG P Sundarraj. The police retaliated, and a fierce gunfight began, said police.
Tragically, a mother and child were passing by and they were caught in the hail of bullets. The woman was injured in both arms, but the infant was killed. Sundarraj said the security forces had to make a strategic retreat after two of their personnel were hit by Maoists’ bullets. Both the injured personnel were immediately evacuated, and reinforcements were dispatched to continue the operation, said the IG.
Villagers rushed to the nearby security force camp in Kaved village and informed the cops about the civilian casualty. The injured woman was taken to the district hospital, where her condition is stable, said the IG.
Senior police officers have met the woman in hospital and a team has gone to her house in the village to provide assistance, he said.
This is the first time that a newborn has been killed in Bastar. In 2016, an eight-year-old boy died in an IED blast in Sukma.
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