MP: Maoist carrying Rs 14 lakh bounty gunned down

Bhopal: A suspected hardcore Maoist carrying a bounty of Rs 14 lakh was on Monday gunned down in Leftwing extremism-affected Balaghat district in Madhya Pradesh, police said.

Acting on specific intelligence inputs on the presence of armed Naxal cadres in the forest near Kotiya Tola village under Hatta police station limits in the district, a joint operation comprising personnel of district force and Hawk Force, the elite counterinsurgency wing of Madhya Pradesh police, was launched in the area, Balaghat district superintendent of police Sameer Saurav said.

An encounter ensued between Maoists and security forces that lasted around six hours.

Later, the body of a Maoist, identified as Ukas alias Sohan, was recovered at the encounter site.

Sohan was an area committee member (ACM) of Kanha Bhairamgarh (KB) division of Maoists, police said.

He carried a reward of Rs 14 lakh on his head.

The search operation by security forces still continued in the area.

A dozen senior Maoist leaders had been killed in separate encounters in Balaghat district in the last one year.