Chhattisgarh; 2 Hardcore Maoists Gunned Down In Bastar

Raipur: Two hardcore Maoists, carrying a cumulative bounty of Rs seven lakhs, were on Thursday gunned down in the ongoing encounter with security forces in a jungle in Bijapur district under south Bastar in Chhattisgarh, police said.

The encounter began in the Kaurgotta- Gundrajgudem jungle under Pamed police station at around seven in the morning and was still underway till the last reports came at eight pm, police said.

“Bodies of two Maoists along with automatic weapons have so far been recovered at the encounter site. Search operation is still going on in the area”, Bijapur district superintendent of police Dr Jitendra Kumar Yadav said.

According to him, acting on specific intelligence inputs on the presence of armed Maoist guerrillas belonging to the Pamed Area Committee in the particular forest, a search operation was launched in the area.

An encounter ensued between them.

Intermittent exchanges of fire have still been going on at the encounter site till the last reports came, police said.

The slain Maoists have been identified as Pradeep alias Joga, member of Pamed Area Committee, and Bheema Beko, party member belonging to the committee.

While Pradeep carried a bounty of Rs five lakh, Bheema had a reward of Rs two lakh, announced on his head.

Both of them were allegedly involved in several crimes including the killing of ex-sarpanch of Kabargatta panchayat Bheema Madkam, police said.

One AK 47 assault rifle, one nine mm pistol, several ammunition and explosives were recovered at the encounter site, the police officer said.

The Pamed area committee of Maoists, functioning in the southern part of Bijapur district, is considered a formidable unit of Naxals.