Chhattisgarh: Bodies of 3 Naxals recovered, toll reaches 31

Raipur: With the recovery of bodies of three more Naxals at the encounter site in Abujhmad forest under Narayanpur district in Bastar in Chhattisgarh on Saturday, the toll in the incident mounted to 31.

Of the 31 slain Maoists, 13 were women. Of them, sixteen deceased ultras have so far been identified.

Of the 31 slain Maoists, 16 collectively carried bounties of Rs 1.30 crore, Bastar range inspector general of police P Sunderraj said on Saturday.

Notable among the slain Naxal leaders was member of Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee (DKZSC) and secretary, East Bastar Division of Maoists Niti alias Urmila who carried a bounty of Rs 25 lakh on her head, police said.

Besides, two other Naxals were in the rank of divisional committee member (DVCM) carrying a reward of Rs eight lakh on their heads each.

Nine other deceased Maoists were the members of People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA).

The weapons recovered at the encounter site included one Light Machine Gun (LMG), four AK 47 assault rifles, six SLR rifles, three INSAS rifles, two 303 rifles and a large number of calibre rifles and locally fabricated guns.

“Friday’s counterinsurgency operation in Abujhmad was the deadliest and biggest one in Bastar in terms of casualties inflicted to the Naxals as well as the security personnel deployed in the operation”, a senior police officer said.

On April 16 this year, 29 Maoists were gunned in an encounter with security forces in Kanker district in north Bastar.

According to the police officer, around 1,500 security personnel from district reserve group (DRG) and Special Task Force (STF) had taken part in Friday’s anti-Naxal operation.

They were divided in two groups and started at two points.

The search parties had walked around 40 kms in the forests during which they had to climb four hills and cross rivers and rivulets amid heavy downpours.

The anti-Naxal operation was launched on Friday based on specific intelligence inputs on the presence of around 50 armed Naxals including some senior Maoist leaders in Nendur- Thulthali forest in north Abujhmad.

“The Maoists were initially spotted moving from one place to another. But, they took shelter at a particular place in Nandur-Thuli Thuli forest when it rained heavily and became the easy target of the security forces, finally reducing them to sitting ducks”, a senior police officer of Bastar told this newspaper.

Union home minister Amit Shah called Chhattisgarh chief minister Vishnu Deo Sai on phone late on Friday night to take stock of the situation in the wake of the encounter.