Home Minister congratulates CRPF, COBRA team for Naxal operations

NEW DELHI: Home Minister Rajnath Singh today congratulated CRPF and CoBRA team which killed a top Naxal commander in the forests of Khunti district of Jharkhand.

In a special commendation letter, the Home Minister appreciated the efforts of the paramilitary commandos in eliminating Naxal commander Vishal alias Tulsi alias Tadit, also the Special Committee member of CPI (Maoists), in a pre-dawn encounter yesterday, official sources said.

Vishal was carrying an award of Rs 3 lakh and was wanted in connection with several Naxal violence-related cases including the beheading of special branch officer Francis Indwar some years ago and the 2009 killing of five Central Reserve Police Force troops in Khunti.

Officials said the operation was led by P R Mishra, a five-time gallantry award winning officer of CRPF and at present Additional SP (Operations) of Khunti, the Additional SP of Ranchi along with commandos of the elite CoBRA unit of CRPF.