Army jawan on leave to meet pregnant wife shot dead by Maoists in Chhattisgarh

Anchla was out shopping with his brother and others in Useli village fair market when two suspected Maoists fired at him from close range and fled from the spot shouting “Lal Salaam”, said the police. They shot Anchla in the head twice from behind, the police added.

Anchla, who had joined the Indian Army in 2013-14, was from the Bade Tevda village in the jurisdiction of the Amabeda police station. The village is near the Kondagaon border, which is said to be a passing route for Maoists.

In a span of one week, insurgents have killed seven security personnel in Chhattisgarh, besides Anchla, showing a marked spike in attacks against them in the poll-bound state. For the entire last year, only nine security personnel were killed by insurgents in the state, as per records.

On Sunday morning, a 43-year-old security personnel from the Chhattisgarh Armed Force (CAF) was killed in an improvised explosive device (IED) blast in the Orchha development block of Narayanpur district. The victim, Sanjay Lakda, was part of the security forces conducting anti-Naxal search operations in the area.