SAA event in Jharkhand, Latehar District area, India on Tue 28th September 2021

A Deputy Commandant of Jharkhand Jaguar (JJ), and a cadre of the Jharkhand Jan Mukti Parishad (JJMP), a splinter group of the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist), were killed in an exchange of fire between the Security Forces (SFs) and the Left Wing Extremists (LWEs) during a combing operation in Saliya forest area in Latehar District of Jharkhand on September 28, reports The Indian Express. Several weapons, including an AK-47 rifle, were recovered from the encounter site, Police said. Sources said a Jharkhand Jaguar team was on a search operation in Saliya forest area, around 10 kilometres from Latehar District Police headquarters, when the JJMP extremists opened fire on them. During the two-hour gunfight, a Maoist was killed and Deputy Commandant Rajesh Kumar sustained bullet injuries, they said. Kumar was taken to Latehar and then airlifted to Ranchi for treatment. He died at hospital in the course of treatment, a press release issued by Jharkhand Police said. The identity of the slain JJMP cadre is yet to be ascertained.