A Central Reserve Police Force jawan was killed after Naxals attacked a force camp in Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh early on Tuesday.
Officials said the incident occurred at about 3:00 am when a Maoist squad mounted sniper fire on a CRPF camp in the jungles of Rangareddy in Gangloor area of the district.
In the ensuing gunbattle, Constable Satish Gaur, 28, who was on sentry duty sustained bullet injuries and later succumbed, they said.
Gaur hailed from Andhra Pradesh and belonged to the 85th battalion of the paramilitary deployed in the area for anti-Naxal operations.
None of the other troops present in the camp were harmed, officials said.
The Maoist firing lasted few minutes after which they fled into the forests, officials said, adding that a search operation has been launched in the area by security forces.
As per preliminary information, the Naxals fired one or two rounds at the 'A' company camp of the 85th battalion of the force located at restive Reddy village under Gangaloor police station limits late on Monday night and fled from the spot, Bijapur Superintendent of Police KL Dhruv told PTI.
According to a senior CRPF official, the camp is located in the close vicinity of Reddy village and preliminary report suggests that bullet was fired from the residential side only.
Therefore, jawans did not immediately retaliate keeping in view the safety of civilians even though the force had launched a hunt to find assailants in the nearby areas, the official added.
