Bijapur Encounter: 6 More Bodies Of Naxals Recovered, Maoist Toll Mounts To 18

Raipur: The death toll of Maoists in the ongoing encounter in Bijapur district under south Bastar in Chhattisgarh, began on November three, has mounted to 18 with the recovery of six more bodies of Naxals on Thursday.

Of the 18 slain Maoists, 16 of whom carried a cumulative bounty of Rs 1.30 crore, nine are females.

All of them, barring two, have been identified.

The encounter between Maoists and security forces, which began at nine am on November three in Keshkuthul forest under Bhairamgarh police station, a Naxal stronghold, was still underway till the last report came.

“Six more bodies of Naxals were on Thursday recovered at the encounter site, taking the death toll of Maoists to 18. Intermittent exchange of fire between Maoists and security forces was still going on”, Bastar range inspector general of police P Sunderraj said.

Twelve bodies of Maoists were recovered at the encounter site on Wednesday.

Huge cache of arms and ammunition including automatic weapons were recovered at the encounter site, Mr. Sunderraj said.

Weapons recovered included one Light Machine Gun (LMG), four AK 47 rifles, four SLR rifles, two numbers of .303 rifles, four single shot rifles, one muzzle loading rifle, hand grenades and two Barrel Grenade Launchers (BGLs).

Prominent among the slain Maoists was Vella Modiyam, a divisional committee member carrying a bounty of Rs ten lakh on his head.

He headed the company number two of the People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) and was allegedly involved in half a dozen major attacks on the security forces including in Minpa in Sukma district in 2020 in which 17 security personnel were killed, and in Tekalgudem in Bijapur district in which 22 security personnel were massacred.

He had also allegedly played a key role in the Maoist ambush on the Congress convoy in Jheeram Ghati under Darbha in Bastar district in 2013 in which 28 Congress leaders and four cops were killed.

Fourteen other slain Maoists were in the rank of area committee members carrying a bounty of Rs eight lakh each.

The powerful West Bastar Division of Maoists has literally been decimated with the neutralization of 18 senior cadres of the unit, police said.

Three jawans were also killed and two others injured in the incident.

The martyred jawans were paid tribute by the senior police officers at Jagdalpur, headquarters of Bastar, on Thursday.