A CRPF commando hailing from Purulia’s Raghunathpur was killed in a gun battle with Maoists in Chhattisgarh’s Sukma on Tuesday afternoon.

Kanai Maji, 27, a resident of Lachiya village, was reportedly gunned down near Sukma district’s Palodi village around 4pm when a 12-member-strong troop was providing security to a road-construction project.

“The jawans were ambushed by Maoist rebels around 4pm on Tuesday. Kanai died on the spot, succumbing to gunfire. Another jawan is injured,” said a source.

Bereaved family members in Lachiya received Kanai’s body on Wednesday evening. Family sources said he had joined the CRPF in 2014 and had been posted to Sukma recently.

“He was here in mid-January and had promised to build his parents a pukka (concrete) home by the end of the year,” said a neighbour.

“He had told us he had saved enough money and had even taken me to speak with some local masons regarding the plan of the home,” Kanai’s father Dilip Maji said.

Neighbours and friends said Kanai had always showed resolve to work hard to pull his family out of poverty. Dilip is a marginal farmer.