Raipur: Seven Maoists were on Thursday gunned down in an encounter with security forces in Abujhmad area under Bastar in Chhattisgarh, police said.
The encounter took place at around 11 am in the forest along the border of Narayanpur and Bijapur districts falling under Abujhmad area.
Acting on specific intelligence inputs on the presence of the cadres of Indravati area committee and platoon number 16 of Maoists in the forest along Narayanpur and Bijapur districts, a joint team comprising personnel of district reserve guard (DRG), Bastar Fighters and special task force (STF) launched a search operation in the area on May 21, Narayanpur district superintendent of police Prabhat Kumar said.
The search party came under attack by Maoists in a forest in the area at around 11 am on Thursday leading to a gunfight between them, he said.
The exchange of fire between them continued till the last report came.
“Seven bodies of Maoists in Naxal uniform were recovered at the encounter site. Besides, seven firearms were also recovered”, the police officer said.
The counterinsurgency operation was still in progress and further details were awaited, he said.
This was the fourth major anti-Naxal operation carried out in Abujhmad, a 4,000 sq km area extending from Bastar in Chhattisgarh to Gadchiroli in Maharashtra, in the last five weeks, in which a total 51 Maoists were gunned down by security forces.
Parts of districts of Narayanpur, Bijapur and Kanker in Bastar division fall under Abujhmad, the only un-surveyed area in India.
In the biggest ever strike against Maoists by security forces in Bastar, 29 Naxals were killed in Kanker district on April 16.
On April 30, ten Maoists including three women cadres were gunned down in an encounter with security forces in a forest along Narayanpur and Kanker districts.
On May 10, as many as 12 Naxals were killed in an encounter with security forces in Pedia forest in Bijapur district.
Total 112 Maoists have so far been killed in separate encounters in Bastar in the current year.
