At least two police jawans were injured in an encounter with insurgents at a weekly market at Basaguda in Bijapur district on Friday.
“About 30 to 35 jawans were deployed on duty at Basaguda weekly market. The jawans were returning to base camp when the two of them got left behind. Taking advantage of the situation, some unidentified militants suspected to be Naxals clad in village attire attacked the personnel and injured them, Inspector General of Police (IGP), Bastar, SRP Kalluri informed.
The insurgents also snatched away arms carried by the jawans. Both the injured were later airlifted to Jagdalpur where their condition is reported to be stable, he said.
Meanwhile, police arrested an insurgent and two Maoist sympathisers during separate actions in Kanker district of restive Bastar region, police said on Friday. The Maoist sympathisers were wanted in a dacoity incident.
Two Maoist sympathisers were arrested from Bande area of the district. Both of them were wanted in connection with a dacoity case. They used to promote Naxal activities in the region, Superintendent of Police, Kanker, RN Dash informed.
The sympathisers have been identified as Dhananjay Sheel and Alok Mandal and were arrested from Masumtola village falling under the limits of Bande police station on a tip-off received by them, Dash said.
Meanwhile, Sub Divisional Officer of Police (SDOP), Bhanpurpratappur , Tarkeshwar Patel informed that one Rajendra Potai, a resident of Bhainsasur village under the limits of Siksod was arrested from the village. The arrest was made by a joint police party of Border Security Force (BSF) and District Police (DF).
Potai was involved in several serious criminal incidents such as arson and abduction . A local court had issued permanent warrant against him, he informed.