Raipur: At least three Maoists were on Friday gunned down in an encounter with security forces in a jungle in Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh’s south Bastar, police said.
The encounter took place in the Rekapalli-Komatipalli area in Bijapur district, bordering Telangana, at around 11 am and lasted around six hours, police said.
“Three Maoists were killed in the encounter. Several weapons including a self-loaded rifle (SLR) were recovered at the encounter site. Recovery of the SLR automatic weapon indicates that one of the two slain Naxals is most likely a senior Maoist leader”, Bastar range inspector general of police P. Sunderraj told this newspaper.
According to the police, acting on specific intelligence inputs on the presence of Maoists, a joint search operation involving personnel of Central Reserve Police Force’s elite anti-Naxal wing, Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA), district reserve guard (DRG) and special task force (STF) was launched in Usoor-Basaguda-Pamed area, nearly 110 km from district headquarters of Bijapur.
They came face to face with the Maoists in the Rekapalli-Komatipalli jungle leading to a fierce encounter between them.
Security forces later recovered bodies of three Maoists along with arms and ammunition including a SLR, a sniper weapon, and a pistol, police said. “The bodies of the three Maoists are yet to identified”, Sunderraj said.
The encounter site is close to Pedia where 12 Maoists were killed in a gun fight with security forces in May this year.
As many as 51 Maoists were killed in the district between December 13, 2023 to October five this year. Fortyseven weapons were recovered in around 40 encounters that took place in the district during the period.
