A CoBRA commando of the Central Reserve Police Force and a policeman were killed during an encounter with Naxals in Jharkhand's Saraikela area on Thursday, officials said.
The gunbattle began around 7 am in the Dalbhaga-Arki area of Saraikela-Kharsawan district when a joint team of the 209th Battalion of the CoBRA (Commando Battalion for Resolute Action) and the Jharkhand Police was out for an operation, they said.
Commando Utpal Rabha, 27, hailing from Meghalaya's North Garo Hills district, was killed during the encounter, while a state police personnel succumbed to injuries, they said.
The encounter took place in Saraikela, the administrative headquarter of Saraikela- Kharsawan district, around 135 km from the state capital, the officials said.
Heavy firing is still on and further details are awaited, they said.
How the Sarkar works in Maoist areas
How to neutralise the Maoist challenge
For the thuggish Naxalites, revolution is a pretence
The CRPF is not fighting just the Maoists in Bastar
Why Adivasis fled their village after the Maoist ambush