Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Monday announced an ex-gratia of Rs 30 lakh each to the two security personnel from the state who were killed in the encounter with Maoists in Chhattisgarh. Routhu Jagadeesh and Shakamuri Murali Krishna lost their lives in the gunbattle between the security forces and the Maoists. CM Jagan offered his heartfelt condolences to the family members of Jagadeesh and Murali and prayed to god to give them the strength to overcome the grief.
Jagadeesh hailed from Gajularega in Vizianagaram district, while Murali was from Gudipudi village in Sattenapalli of Guntur district. Andhra Pradesh Governor Biswa Bhusan Harichandan also lauded the sacrifice of the personnel and praised their gallantry. "I will pray for the peace of the martyrs' souls. My heartfelt condolences to the family members," he said.
The mortal remains of Murali Krishna reached Hyderabad Airport on Monday night. Cyberabad Commissioner of Police VC Sajjanar paid tributes to Murali Krishna in the presence of CRPF officers and Telangana state police officials and conveyed condolences to his family. The body was then transported to his native place of Gudipudi village, where his final rites will be performed.
Twenty-two security personnel were killed and 31 others injured in a gunfight with Naxals in a forest along the border of Sukma and Bijapur districts in Chhattisgarh on Saturday. In a major joint offensive, separate joint teams of security forces, comprising over 2,000 personnel, had launched an anti-Naxal operation from Bijapur and Sukma districts in the South Bastar forests, considered as the Maoist stronghold, on Friday night. The security personnel involved in the operation launched from five places. As the patrolling team from one of those places, Tarrem, was advancing through the forest, it was reportedly ambushed by cadres of PLGA (Peoples' Liberation Guerilla Army) battalion of Maoists that led to the gunfight.
Of the 22 personnel killed, the CRPF lost eight men, including seven commandos of the CoBRA (CRPF's elite unit) and one jawan of the Bastariya battalion. Eight of the other deceased were from the District Reserve Guard (DRG) and six from a Special Task Force (STF).
(With IANS and PTI inputs)