Chhattisgarh: In a first, member of Maoists’ powerful DKSZC killed in Bastar

This was revealed during the identification of the slain ultras by the police on Wednesday, Dantewada district superintendent of police Gaurav Rai said.

This was the first time a member of DKZSC was neutralised in an encounter with security forces in Bastar, a senior police officer told this newspaper.

The slain DKZSC member Randhir is a native of Warangal in Telangana and carried a bounty of Rs 25 lakh on his head, police said.

He was among the nine Maoist leaders, who together carried rewards of Rs 59 lakh, slain in Tuesday’s Dantewada encounter, according to the police.

The bodies of six female Naxals and three male Maoists, killed in Tuesday’s Dantewada encounter, were identified on Wednesday.

The other eight deceased Maoists were identified as Kumari Shanti, Sushila Madkam, Gangi Muchaki, Kosa Madvi, Lalitha, Kavita, Hidme Madkam and Kamlesh.

Barring Hidme and Kamlesh who carried bounties of Rs two lakh each respectively, the other six slain Maoists carried rewards of Rs five lakh each, Mr Rai said.

One automatic Self-loaded rifle (SLR), two 303 rifles, one eight mm rifle, one 315 bore rifle, two 12 bore rifles, one barrel grenade launcher (BGL), two muzzle-loaded rifles, and huge quantities of explosives were recovered at the encounter site, Mr Rai said.

Acting on specific intelligence inputs on the presence of armed Maoists in a forest along the borders of Dantewada and Bijapur district, a joint search operation was launched on Tuesday leading to the killing of nine Maoists.