Naxals free CRPF jawan abducted after Chhattisgarh encounter

Raipur: CRPF commando Rakeshwar Singh Manhas abducted by Naxals after the recent Bijapur ambush in Chhattisgarh was released on Thursday, Chhattisgarh police said on Thursday.

They said constable Rakeshwar Singh Manhas of the 210th Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA), an elite unit of the CRPF, was freed by the Maoists after a team of two eminent people, including a person from the tribal community, was nominated by the state government to secure his release.

The jawan who hails from Jammu is being brought to the Tarrem camp of the Central Reserve Police Force located in Bijapur, a senior officer of the paramilitary said.

He is expected to reach a security camp near Basaguda in Bastar region, police said.

He went missing after the April 3 gunfight between Naxals and security personnel near Sukma-Bijapur district border.

A relative holding the daughter of Indian paramilitary soldier Rakeshwar Singh Manhas wails at their residence in Jammu, India, Monday, April 5, 2021. Photo: PTI

On Tuesday, the outlawed CPI (Maoist) had issued a statement in Hindi saying its cadres had abducted Manhas from the site of the ambush, and demanded that the Chhattisgarh government appoint interlocutors to ensure his safe release.

Twenty-two security personnel were killed while 31 others were injured in the deadly ambush.

Out of the 22, eight were from the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), including seven CoBRA commandos and one jawan of its 'Bastariya' battalion, eight from the District Reserve Guard (DRG) and six from the Special Task Force (STF).

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