Raipur: In the second major strike on the Leftwing insurgents in Bastar in Chhattisgarh in the last fortnight, security forces on Tuesday gunned down ten Maoists including three women in a forest in Abujhmad, a Naxal stronghold in the western tip of the state.
An encounter took place between the security forces and Maoists at around six in the morning in a forest across Narayanpur and Kanker districts falling under Abujhmad area of Bastar, leading to the killing of ten Maoists, Bastar inspector general of police P Sunderraj told this newspaper.
The encounter site is around 30 km from Chhotebetia in Abujhmad, where 29 Maoists were killed in the biggest ever strike on the ultras in Bastar by security forces on April 16.
Abujhmad, a 4,000 sq km area extending from south Bastar to Gadchiroli in Maharashtra, is considered a safe haven for Maoists. The area is run by Maoists’ ‘jantana sarkar’ (people’s government).
“Tough terrain and dense foliage in this area is conducive for Maoist hideout and dump”, Mr Sunderraj said.
A senior police officer revealed to this newspaper that security forces have discovered some tunnels dug by Maoists to use as their hideout during an attack on the security forces.
“Details would be known after the search party returned to their camp”, the police officer said, unwilling to be quoted.
According to the police, acting on specific intelligence inputs on the gathering of a large number of Maoists in the forest between the villages of Tekmeta and Kakur in Narayanpur district, a joint team of district reserve guard (DRG), a tribal counterinsurgency wing of Chhattisgarh police, and Special Task Force (STF) launched search operation in the area early on Tuesday morning.
A fierce encounter ensued between them when Maoists hiding in the forest opened fire on the search party.
Security forces recovered bodies of ten Maoists including three women cadres along with a huge cache of arms and ammunition and explosives at the spot after the encounter ended.
The weapons recovered at the encounter site included one AK 47 and one INSAS assault rifle, police said.
The recovery of AK 47 and INSAS rifle indicates that some senior Maoists may have been killed in the encounter, police said.
“Security forces have recovered all the ten bodies of Maoists. The slain Naxals are yet to be identified”, the police officer said.
