Bijapur Encounter: 5 of 31 Slain Maoists Identified, a Division Secretary Among Those Killed
West Bastar Division secretary Hunga Karma, carrying a bounty of Rs eight lakh, was among the five slain Naxals
Raipur: Five of 31 Maoists slain in Sunday’s encounter with security forces in a forest falling under Indravati National Park in Bijapur district in south Bastar of Chhattisgarh have been identified, police said on Monday.
West Bastar Division secretary Hunga Karma, who was in the rank of divisional committee (DVCM) member carrying a bounty of Rs eight lakh, was among the five slain Naxals who have been identified so far, police said.
The other three deceased Naxals, who have been identified, were in the rank of commander in the Maoist cadre and carried a reward of Rs five lakh each.
They are Hunga Hemla, commander of platoon number eleven of Maoists, and area committee members Subhash Ayam and Sonnu.
The other slain Naxal has been identified as Ramesh, a member of national park area committee of Maoists carrying a bounty of Rs two lakh.
“Bodies of the remaining 26 slain Maoists will be identified soon”, Bastar range inspector general of police P Sunderraj told this newspaper.
The weapons recovered at the encounter site included one Ak 47, one self-loaded rifle (SLR), one INSAS rifle, a 303 rifle, one 315-bore rifle, eight numbers of 12 bore rifles, one huge stand of rocket launcher, six barrel grenade launchers (BGLs), four muzzle loading rifles and nine improvised explosive devices (IEDs).
Besides, large quantities of explosives and other Naxal materials were recovered at the encounter site.
Director general of police (DGP) of Chhattisgarh Arun Dev Gautam, ADG (Naxal operation) Vivekanand Sinha, and Bastar IG Mr Sunderraj were among the high-level police officers who inspected the weapons and ammunition recovered at the encounter site.
A district reserve guard (DRG) jawan, Naresh Dhruv, and a special task force (STF) constable Basit Rawte were also killed and two other security personnel injured in the incident.
Acting on specific intelligence inputs on the presence of top-level Maoist cadres in the Farsegarh forest under the Indravati National Park, a joint search operation comprising personnel of DRG, STF and Bastar Fighters was launched on Sunday.
A fierce encounter ensued that lasted nearly eight hours, leading to the death of 31 Maoists and two security personnel.
