Maoist Sniper, Carrying Rs 8 Lakh Bounty, Killed In Bijapur Encounter

Raipur: A Maoist sniper, carrying a bounty of Rs eight lakh, was gunned down in an encounter with security forces in the Indravati National Park under Bijapur district in south Bastar of Chhattisgarh, police said on Monday.

The development has dealt a blow to the Maoists’ military sniper capability, Bijapur district superintendent of police Jitendra Yadav said on Monday.

The slain Maoist has been identified as Sodhi Kanna, who was deputy commander in the battalion number one, the formidable military unit of Maoists.

He was also a sniper in the battalion.

According to the police officer, acting on the intelligence inputs on the presence of members of the Telangana State Committee (TSC), the National Park area committee and people’s liberation guerrilla army (PLGA) battalion number one, in the area, a search operation was launched by the security forces on July four.

An encounter took place between Maoists and security forces in the evening of July four which continued intermittently for almost 48 hours, police said.

Later, security forces recovered the body of the slain Maoist along with one .303 rifle, detonators, and ammunition, police said.

Chief minister Vishnu Deo Sai hailed the security forces for neutralizing the Maoist leader and praised them for valiantly fighting against the Naxals.

As many as 415 Maoists were killed in separate encounters in Bastar in the last 18 months.