Cops clash with Naxalites in Vidarbha

A jawan was injured when a police team clashed with Naxalites in Gadchiroli district of eastern Maharashtra, police said.

The Naxalites had on Tuesday fired a grenade at an IAF chopper, which had dropped the polling party and CRPF personnel in Binagunda area. The exchange of fire continued till Wednesday morning, police said adding that it stopped shortly after polling began in the district.

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In the exchange of fire, a state reserve police jawan was injured, Inspector General of Police (Nagpur Range) Pankaj Gupta told PTI from Nagpur. The jawan was rushed to Gadchiroli Civil Hospital.

A report from Nagpur said the SRPF Group IV jawan, identified as Virendra Kumar Mataprasad Tiwari, sustained injuries in his knee.

Naxalites had called for a poll boycott and threatened to sabotage the process in the Vidarbha region of eastern Maharashtra.