Security Forces Gun Down Maoist, 33 Surrender in Chhattisgarh

Raipur: A Maoist was on Saturday gunned down in an encounter with security forces in Sukma district under south Bastar in Chhattisgarh, police said.

The encounter took place in a forest near Belpochta village under Konta police station, according to Sukma district superintendent of police Kiran Chavan.

Acting on the specific intelligence inputs on the presence of some Maoists in the forest, security forces launched a search operation in the area.

Security forces came under attack by Maoists in the forest near Belpochta village leading to a gunfight between them.

Later, security forces recovered the body of a Naxal along with a weapon at the encounter site, police said.

In another development, 33 Maoists, three of whom carried a bounty of Rs five lakh each, on Saturday surrendered before police in Bijapur under south Bastar.

The surrendered Maoists included a member of the dreaded battalion number one of People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA), a woman militia member of platoon number one of company number five of Maoists and several heads of ‘jantan sarkar’, the local area government run by Maoists.

With this, a total of 109 Maoists have surrendered in Bijapur district in Chhattisgarh in the current year so far.

Besides, 189 other Naxals were arrested in the district during the period.

Chief minister Vishnu Deo Sai congratulated the surrendered Maoists for taking the decision to join the mainstream by giving up the path of violence.

He said that the surrendered Maoists would be suitably rehabilitated.