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Less than 24 hours after loosing 10 personnel in Chhattisgarh, the Central Reserve Police Force on Saturday received another deadly blow with five of its men being killed in an encounter with the Naxals in the dense forests in Jharkhand.
The encounter took place hours before Congress president Sonia Gandhi held a poll rally in the Kunti district.
According to sources, the Naxals also managed to take away an AK-47 and an INSAS rifle of the CRPF personnel during the four-hour encounter.
One head constable and four constables were killed while three others injured during the encounter which ensued after jawans of the 133rd battalion of the force conducted a search operation following inputs of Naxal presence in the area.
The team came under heavy gunfire as soon as they entered the forests under Adki police station to secure the area. Gandhi's rally went off peacefully at the district headquarters of Khunti.
Saturday's incident comes within a week of another encounter in Jiliser village of Gumla district in Jharkhand where two Naxals were shot dead following a tip off that around 10ultras had assembled in the village.
On Friday, the Naxals had ambushed a CRPF party on poll duty in Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh. Ten CRPF personnel, including a Deputy Commandant, lost their lives in the incident.
Jharkhand is slated to go to polls on April 16 and 23.