2 women among 6 naxalites killed in Bijapur gunfight

Six Naxalites, including two women cadres, were killed on Wednesday in an encounter with security personnel in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district, a police official said.

The gunfight took place in the forest area located along the Talperu river near Chipurbhatti village under Basaguda police station area, when a joint team of security personnel was out on an anti-Naxal operation, said Inspector General of Police (Bastar Range) Sundarraj P.

The operation involving personnel belonging to the District Reserve Guard, Central Reserve Police Force and its elite unit CoBRA (Commando Battalion for Resolute Action), was launched based on inputs about the presence of Naxalites from People's Liberation Guerrilla Army platoon no. 10 of Maoists, he said.


"After the exchange of fire stopped, bodies of six Naxalites, including two women, and a huge cache of weapons and explosives were recovered from the spot," the IG said.

The official had earlier said the deceased Naxalites included only one woman. The identity of the dead Naxalites is yet to be ascertained, he said.

Many other Naxalites were reported to be injured in the gunfight and the search operation was still underway in the area, he added.

Bijapur district is located in the Bastar Lok Sabha constituency, which will go to polls in the first phase of the general elections on April 19.