Dhamtari (Chhattisgarh), February 14 Three CRPF personnel and a civilian were killed after their car collided with a stationary truck on a highway in Dhamtari district of Chhattisgarh on Saturday, police said.
The accident occurred around 8 am near the Khapri village on the Dhamtari bypass on the Jagdalpur-Raipur National Highway, when commandos from the Central Reserve Police Force's elite CoBRA (Commando Battalion for Resolute Action) unit were involved, Superintendent of Police Suraj Singh Parihar said.
He said that the deceased personnel belonged to the 201st battalion of the CoBRA.
Four CoBRA personnel, along with the civilian driver, were traveling from Jagdalpur, the headquarters of Bastar district, to Raipur to return home on leave, the official said.
He said that the car crashed into a stationary truck, and the impact was severe, killing one soldier and the driver on the spot, while two other personnel succumbed to injuries while being taken to a hospital.
Prima facie, it appears that the driver may have dozed off while driving, causing the speeding vehicle to crash into the truck parked on the roadside, Parihar said.
The deceased included CRPF personnel Saurabh Tomar, Mukesh Kumar, and Rajkumar God, and the driver, Heeralal Nagar, he said, adding that another CoBRA commando, Abhiman Rai (28), was injured and has been referred to Raipur for further treatment.
The CRPF and its elite unit are extensively deployed in the Bastar region, comprising seven districts, for anti-Naxal operations.
