C’garh: 2 Maoists, including a woman, gunned down in Bastar encounter, weapons seized
Two suspected Maoists including a woman were on Saturday gunned down in an encounter with security forces in a forest in Sukma district under Bastar in Chhattisgarh, police said.
Raipur: Two suspected Maoists including a woman were on Saturday gunned down in an encounter with security forces in a forest in Sukma district under Bastar in Chhattisgarh, police said.
The encounter took place in the jungle of Gundarajgudem under Kistaram police station, bordering Telangana, at around nine in the morning, Bastar range inspector general of police P Sunderraj told this newspaper.
Bodies of two slain Naxals along with some weapons were recovered at the encounter site.
However, details on the weapons recovered could be known after security forces returned to their camps, police said.
Encounter was still underway till the last reports came.
According to the police, acting on specific intelligence inputs on the presence of some senior Maoist leaders in the jungle, a joint security party comprising personnel of district reserve guard (DRG), the tribal counterinsurgency wing of Chhattisgarh police, and CoBRA (Combat Battalion for Resolute Action) launched a search operation in the area.
The joint search party came under attack from the armed Maoists when they surrounded the Naxal camp established in the Gundarajgudem forest, leading to exchanges of fire between them.
The gun battle continued intermittently, Sukma district superintendent of police Kiran Chavan said.
“There were telltale signs of more casualties among the Maoists at the encounter site. The search operation in the area was underway”, Mr Chavan said.
The two slain Maoists were being identified, police said.
According to Mr. Sunderraj, as many as 67 Maoists were killed in separate encounters in Bastar in the last two months.
Bastar region comprises seven districts, Bastar, Kanker, Kondagaon, Dantewada, Sukma, Narayanpur, and Bijapur.
South Bastar districts of Bijapur, Dantewada, Sukma and Narayanpur are affected the most by the Leftwing extremism.
