CRPF soldier, Maoist killed in encounter in West Midnapur

WEST MIDNAPUR - A soldier of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and a Maoist were killed during an encounter at Bandarboni village in West Bengal’s West Midnapur district on Saturday.

A 9-mm pistol, a mobile phone, some landmines, blank bullet cartons, wires and splinters were recovered from the area after the Security Forces in a joint operation raided the Maoists.

According to Superintendent of Police, Jhargram, Praveen Tripathi, the operation was led by the 184 Battalion of the CRPF along with the Jhargram district police and the paramilitary Cobra Force.

He informed that the joint forces, following a tip that a group of Maoists were planning an attack, reached Bandarboni area to nab them.

“At night, through a source we got the information that Shashidhar Mahato and 10 to 15 Maoists of his group have taken shelter in Bandarboni area. They were planning to attack some place. So, accordingly we planned the operation, including our district police and Cobra force, along with 184 battalion of the CRPF,” said Tripathi.

“The Force reached there at night and when they were trying to surround the village from all the directions, the Maoists fired at the soldiers. Our forces also fired back at them and the gun battle continued at least for two-and-a-half hours. At five in the morning, when this battle came to a halt, we started a search operation and in that we recovered a body of an unknown Maoist,” he added.

Tripathi also said that during the operation, one of the soldiers was fatally injured. He died on the spot.

“One of our soldiers, D. Stephen, was martyred during the operation. He belongs to Manipur,” said Tripathi. (ANI)