17 bodies of security personnel recovered 24 hours after encounter with naxals in Sukma

Raipur: Bodies of 17 security personnel, who went missing after a major encounter with Naxals in Minappa jungles of Chhattisgarh’s Sukma on Saturday, were recovered on Sunday.

“Seventeen bodies of jawans of state police has been recovered by the rescue teams sent in the jungle till now,” said Chhattisgarh’s Director General of Police (DGP) D M Awasthi.

Fifteen automatic rifles including 10 AK-47 of the security forces are missing, a police official said.

Total 17 security personnel (5 STF + 12 DRG) have lost their lives in an encounter in Sukma, yesterday. They were missing and security forces were trying to locate them after an encounter with naxals: Chhattisgarh Police pic.twitter.com/4qhUiOxs5U

— ANI (@ANI) March 22, 2020

The encounter took place at around 2.30 pm yesterday in Minappa jungles in Chintagufa area when a joint team of security forces was out on an anti-Maoist operation.

Based on information about presence of ultras near Elmagunda, a joint team of 600 police jawans, from DRG, STF and CRPF’s CoBRA unit had launched the operation from Chintagufa, Burkapal and Timelwada camps yesterday morning, sources said.