Trio stranded near Indo-Pak border rescued
BHUJ, Feb 2: Three employees of a private company were rescued nearly 16 hours after they were stranded on a tidal channel of Harami Nala near the India-Pakistan border in Gujarat’s Kutch district. The men had set out for a survey of land belonging to the Gujarat Heavy Chemicals Limited (GHCL) in the eastern part of the Harami Nala Creek area using a dredging machine on Friday, but were stranded and unable to return, said Vikas Sunda, SP, Kutch West. He said a joint rescue operation with the BSF was launched as soon as GHCL officials contacted the police on Saturday. “The local police and BSF located the trio based on their last contact coordinates before launching a search and rescue mission,” Sunda said, adding the BSF teams arrived for the rescue operation, but the conditions were hostile and the terrain inhospitable, so they used a drone camera to locate the trio’s exact position and ensure they were safe. “The three men were standing on the dredging machine that had almost sunk in the water. Once we were assured of their safety, the Army and Air Force were contacted, and an IAF chopper was also readied. Meanwhile, the BSF entered the area on a boat and rescued them safely,” he said. (PTI)
8 Naxalites killed in Chhattisgarh encounter
Bijapur, Feb 2: The eight Naxalites killed in an encounter with security forces in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur district on Saturday were senior cadres carrying cumulative rewards of Rs 16 lakh, police have said. The members of the outlawed Maoist organisation were gunned down during an anti-Naxal operation in a forest near Todka village under the Gangaloor police station area. Two personnel of the District Reserve Guard, a unit of state police, were also injured in the exchange of fire. One Insas rifle, one Barrel Grenade Launcher (BGL) and its 10 shells, two 12-bore rifles, four muzzle-loading rifles and a huge cache of explosives items were recovered from the encounter site. So far this year, 49 Naxalites have been killed in separate encounters in the state. (PTI)