10 Maoists, constable killed in encounter along C'garh-T'gana border

Bhadrachalam: Ten CPI Maoists and a constable of the Greyhound commando force were killed in an encounter in the forest areas of Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur district bordering Telangana in the early hours of Friday.

Six women were among the rebels killed in the clash that took place in Tadapalagutta-Pujari-Kanker forest area, about 40 km from Venkatapuram police station in Jayasankar-Bhupalapalli district of Telangana.

An AK-47, one SLR, two single bore rifles, five INSAS rifles, one .303 rifle, one pistol, three claymore mines, six rocket bombs, two solar plates, seven kit bags, a Sony radio, empty cartridges, live ammunition of different calibre, party literature and Rs 41,000 cash have been recovered from the encounter site.

The Greyhound constable who died in the fight, Susheel Kumar, is a native of Vikarabad. The bodies of two of the Maoists, one a woman, were shifted to Bhadrachalam and placed in freezers in the area hospital.

None of the slain Maoists have been identified. But it is speculated that Haribhushan, CPI-Maoist Telangana secretary, and his wife Sammakka were among those killed. It is also suspected that Haribhushan’s sister Bharathi and his brother Ashok were in Bhadrachalam.

According to the police, a joint operation of the Telangana and Chhattisgarh police was underway early on Friday morning and ran into a group of Maoists who opened fire indiscriminately, resulting in the death of the Greyhound constable Sushil Kumar.

The police returned fire, which killed 10 Maoists.