A trooper was injured in an exchange of fire with Maoists in Chhattisgarh’s insurgency-hit Dantewada district on Wednesday, police said.
The shoot-out took place in a forest near Pichhikoder village when a joint team of personnel from various security forces was on an anti-Maoist operation, Dantewada’s Additional Superintendent of Police Gorakhnath Baghel said.
The team consisting of troopers from the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), the District Reserve Guard (DRG) and the Special Task Force (STF) from Dantewada and Bastar districts had launched the operation in the forest area bordering the two districts last evening.
The operation was based on inputs about the movement of Maoists, he said.
At around 10.30 am, when one of the patrolling teams advanced through the Pichhikoder forests, a group of ultras started firing at them, he said.
A fierce gun-battle followed, prompting the ultras to flee, Baghel added.