Special Task Force Jawan Mahendra Pratap Yadav succumbed to his injuries on Saturday after being hit by bullets in a gun battle with Naxals in a forested area of Sukma district, a senior police officer said. SP(Sukma) D Shrawan informed that Naxals sprayed bullets on a combing team at Gadiras area and the cops retaliated strongly but Yadav received gun shots in the attack and died on way to a Government hospital.
Shrawan said that police had stepped up combing operation in the area after the attack. Sukma is one of the seven districts of violence-hit Bastar region where Maoists run a parallel Government since late 1980s. The district has witnessed a string deadly Naxal attacks in recent years including killings of top leaders of State’s opposition Congress in May, 2013.