Chhattisgarh: 14 Naxalites Killed in Two Separate Encounters
In Sukma district, bodies of 12 Maoists were recovered from an ongoing encounter in a forest area, while two Maoists were killed in a separate exchange of fire in Bijapur district
Raipur: At least 14 Maoists, including six women, were on Saturday gunned down in two separate encounters with security forces in south Bastar region of Chhattisgarh, police said.
While 12 Maoists were killed in Sukma district, two others were eliminated in Bijapur district.
In the first encounter in Bastar in the current year, two hardcore Maoists belonging to the Pamed Area Committee, a deadly formation of Naxals in Bijapur district in south Bastar, were killed in an encounter with security forces.
The face off between them took place at around five in the morning when a search party of district reserve guard (DRG), the tribal counterinsurgency wing of Chhattisgarh police, came under attack by the Maoists in the hilly and forested area of Gagannapalli under Basaguda police station in Bijapur district, local superintendent of police Dr Jitendra Yadav said.
Later, bodies of two Maoists along with arms and ammunition and explosives were recovered at the encounter site.
Weapons recovered included one Self Loaded Rifle (SLR), one 12 bore rifle and one country made rifle.
The two slain Naxals have been identified as Hunga Madkam and Ayati Muchaki, both members of Pamed area committee each carrying a bounty of Rs five lakh.
In another encounter in Sukma district, 12 Maoists including five women were killed.
Acting on specific intelligence inputs on the presence of armed Maoists in a jungle in southern Sukma district, a DRG team was dispatched to the area to launch a search operation, Sukma district superintendent of police Kiran Chavan said.
An encounter started between them at around eight in the morning which lasted nearly eight hours, police said.
Later, bodies of 12 Maoists along with sophisticated weapons such as AK 47, INSAS rifle and SLR rifle were recovered at the encounter site.
Two of them have so far been identified.
They are Madhvi Hitesh, Konta area committee secretary, and Betti Mangdu alias Mukka, member of the Konta area committee.
While Hitesh carried a bounty of Rs seven lakhs, Mangdu carried a reward of Rs five lakh.
Mangdu was allegedly involved in the recent killing of Sukma district additional superintendent of police Akash Rao Giripunje.
Bastar range inspector general of police P Sunderraj said that the remaining Maoists either have to surrender or face consequences of actions by security forces.
