Sniper Specialist Among 3 Maoists Gunned Down in Sukma Encounter
A cache of weapons and explosives were also recovered at the encounter site
Raipur: A female sniper specialist was among three ‘hardcore’ Maoists who were gunned down in an encounter with the security forces in Tumalpad Hills in Sukma district under south Bastar in Chhattisgarh on Sunday.
A cache of weapons and explosives were also recovered at the encounter site, police said.
The encounter took place on the Tumalpad Hills, falling under both Bhejji and Chintagufa areas in Sukma district, when a search party of district reserve guard (DRG) came under attack by the Maoist guerrillas, according to Sukma district superintendent of police Kiran Chavan.
Acting on specific intelligence inputs on the presence of senior cadres of Konta area committee of Maoists in Tumalpad Hills, a DRG team was sent to the area to launch a search operation.
The ultras opened fire on the security forces when the latter were advancing towards their camp, leading to a fierce encounter between them that lasted several hours, police said.
Security forces later recovered three bodies of Naxals along with a cache of weapons including .303 rifles and Barrel Grenade Launchers (BGLs) and explosives at the encounter site, the police officer said.
The slain Naxals included two women.
One of the three deceased ultras has been identified as Madvi Deba, sniper specialist and member of Konta area committee of Maoists.
The two other slain Maoists have been identified as Podium Gangi, commander of the Konta area committee Chetna Natya Mandal (CNM), and Sodi Gangi, member of Kistaram area committee.
Each of them carried a bounty of Rs five lakh.
According to Bastar range inspector general of police, P Sunderraj, as many as 233 Maoists including outlawed CPI (Maoist) general secretary Basavaraju, several Central Committee members and many People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) militiamen were killed in separate encounters in Bastar in the current year so far.