3 Maoists killed in Bastar encounter

Raipur:At least three Maoists were on Thursday gunned down in an encounter with security forces in the forest along the borders of Sukma and Bijapur districts in south Bastar, police said. The death toll is likely to go up as the search operation was still underway till reports last came in.

Acting on a tip off regarding the presence of some top-level Maoist leaders in the forests of Paliguda and Gundarajgudem, a joint security team comprising personnel of district reserve guard (DRG), special task force (STF) and CoBRA (Commando Battalion for Resolute Action) launched a search operation in the area on Wednesday.

The search team came under attack by the Maoists when they reached a forested and hilly area between Pliguda and Gundarajgudem on Thursday morning, leading to a fierce encounter, Bastar range inspector general of police P. Sunderraj said.

The exchange of fire continued intermittently for around six hours. Security forces recovered bodies of three Maoists in the area after the encounter ended, police said.

Besides, a number of Barrel Grenade Launchers (BGLs), some weapons and explosives were recovered at the encounter site.

Details of the recovery of weapons would be known after the search team returned to their base camps, sources said.

The slain Maoists were believed to be members of People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) functioning under the south Bastar division of Maoists, police said. However, they were yet to be identified.

The encounter took place in the area, known to be a Naxal stronghold, police said.

The incident comes three days after the security forces suffered a setback when Maoists blew up a vehicle carrying DRG jawans near Ambeli village under Bijapur district on January 6. Eight jawans and a civilian driver of the vehicle were killed in the incident.