A CRPF sub-inspector was killed and a constable seriously injured in a Maoist attack in Sukma district of Chhattisgarh on Sunday, marking the third death among security personnel in rebel attacks in the region this month.

Sources said a CRPF battalion was headed from the Beadre police camp to Ursangal for an anti-Maoist operation when it was ambushed around 7am.

“A preliminary probe has revealed that the Naxals took advantage of the dense forest cover and suddenly opened fire at the security personnel. The CRPF team fired back but they (rebels) managed to flee,” a CRPF official in Delhi said.

“In the attack, sub-inspector Sudhakar Reddy was killed and constable Ramu
suffered bullet injuries. He was later airlifted to state capital Raipur for better treatment.”

Reddy was from Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh.

A joint team of the CRPF, its elite anti-insurgent CoBRA unit and local police is combing the area.

Chhattisgarh chief minister Vishnu Deo Sai chaired a high-level meeting and directed security officials to speed up the anti-Maoist operation.

Three security personnel have been killed and seven injured in Maoist attacks this month in the rebel stronghold of Bastar, where Sukma falls, in Chhattisgarh.

On December 14, a BSF jawan was killed in a blast in Kanker district, a day after a Maoist attack killed a Chhattisgarh Armed Force jawan in Narayanpur.