A 27-year-old trooper of the Central Reserve Police Force’s CoBRA unit on Friday drowned in a rivulet during a search operation in Bijapur district in Chhattisgarh.
The incident took place when the 210th battalion of the CRPF’s elite unit Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA) was searching the forest of Silger area, Bijapur Additional Superintendent of Police Pankaj Shukla said.
One of the personnel got swept away while crossing a flooded rivulet, he said.
The body and the weapon of Suraj R of Kerala were recovered about 700 meters downstream from where he slipped, the officer added.
The security forces had received inputs about the presence of Maoists, leading to the operation on Thursday night. The disaster struck on Friday morning.