Naxalites attacked a BSF team killing a jawan in Chhattisgarh’s insurgency-hit Kanker district, striking for the third time in the past month. Maoists fired indiscriminately on security personnel who were patrolling in the proximity of Chhote Baithiya BSF camp under Bande police station area, said Kanker Superintendent of Police Jitendra Singh Meena.

A gun battle erupted between security forces and ultras and the rebels soon fled to the core forests, he added. “A BSF head constable succumbed to bullet injuries, sustained during the gunfight, while being taken to a local hospital,” the SP said.

Soon after the incident, reinforcements were rushed to the spot, he said, adding that a combing operation has been launched in the region to nab the assailants. Seven Special Task Force (STF) personnel were killed and ten others injured recently when Naxals ambushed them in the forests of restive Pidmel village under Polampalli, around 450 km from state capital Raipur. Naxals also allegedly set ablaze at least 17 vehicles engaged in mining work in Kanker district, 140 km from here. However, no one was injured.