A police constable was killed while another was injured following an encounter with Naxals in a forested patch under Orchha police station coming under limits of insurgency-hit Narayanpur district, police said here on Saturday.
The gun battle between Naxals and a joint team of STF and district police took place in restive Chote Tondabeda village under limits of Orchha police station late on Friday evening, informed, Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP), Narayanpur, O P Sharma.
The joint team was on a search/combing operation in the area which came under Naxal fire in a dense forested track.
The police force retaliated gun fire and the intermittent gun fight lasted for about half-an-hour after which Naxals took advantage of dense forest and managed to escape from the spot.
In the gun fight, Constable Pankaj Suryavanshi (26) of Narayanpur district police was martyred while Constable Ramesh Nag (25) sustained serious bullet injuries, ASP Sharma said.
Nag was rushed to district headquarters from where seeing his critical condition was referred to Raipur. ASP Sharma further said that on the receipt of news about the encounter, reinforcement was rushed to the spot to undertake intense search operation. Police has registered a case in this connection.