Ranchi/Bhubaneswar: A CRPF jawan from Odisha was killed while another injured in an encounter with Maoists in Jharkhand’s West Singhbhum district on Friday, a senior police officer said.
The slain jawan is Sushant Kumar Khuntia, a resident of Anandpur in Keonjhar district.
The encounter broke out in a forest in the Tonto area, about 160 km from the state capital Ranchi, around 11 am when a team police and CRPF were carrying out a joint search operation against Maoists, West Singhbhum Superintendent of Police Ashutosh Shekhar told PTI.
“Two CRPF jawans identified as Sushant Kumar and Munna sustained bullet injuries during the encounter. They were airlifted to Ranchi for better treatment. But Sushant succumbed to bullet injuries,” he said.
The SP said that the condition of another jawan is stable according to the doctors.
A senior police officer said Sushant had received a bullet in chest during the gunfight, while Munna was hit on the leg.
Sushant’s elder brother was also a CRPF jawan. He had become a martyr in Naxal violence two years ago. His ailing mother is currently undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Bhubaneswar.
Sushant had got married two years ago.
