Rajnandgaon: A police sub-inspector was killed and a police constable was injured in an encounter with Maoists in Chhattisgarh’s Rajnandgaon area on Sunday.

A specialised district force was carrying out an anti-Maoist operation in the forested area near Bhave village when it was fired upon by a group of Maoists.

A team of E-30, an anti-Naxal force of district police, was cordoning off the forests near Bhave village, over 150 kilometres from Rajnandgaon, when it came under heavy fire from a group of comrades, leading to the encounter, Inspector General of Police (Durg Range) Dipanshu Kabra told PTI.

However, on finding security personnel zeroing on them, the rebels fled into core forests, he said.

“A sub-inspector of police Yugal Kishore Verma was killed in the incident while constable Krish Sahu sustained injuries,” the official added.

After being informed of the incident, reinforcements were being rushed to the spot and the body of slain official was being recovered from the forest. The injured jawan was also being evacuated, he said.

A 2008 batch SI rank official, Verma was a resident of Palari area in the state’s Balodabazar district. A major portion of Rajnandgaon is bordering Gondia and Gadchiroli (Maharashtra) and Balaghat (Madhya Pradesh) where Maoist activities have been continuously reported.

As per the Maoist documents recovered recently from Bastar region, Naxals are now trying to set up their new base in this tri-junction region.