Chhattisgarh: Head of west Bastar, 4 other Maoists carrying rewards were among 31 killed
Chhattisgarh Police killed 31 Maoists, including five top commanders, in a major anti-Left-wing-extremism operation in Bijapur. Among the dead were high-ranking members with significant bounties. Two policemen also died in the encounter, which too...
Bijapur: A day after the Chhattisgarh Police killed 31 Maoists - 20 men and 11 women - in one of the biggest anti-Left-wing-extremism operations, the bodies of five Maoist commanders and committee members carrying rewards have been identified, police said on Monday.
Among them were the head of the west Bastar divisional committee, identified as Hunga, carrying a reward of ₹8 lakh, platoon commander of 11th People Liberation Guerilla Army, Mangu, area committee member Subhash and Sanu, each carrying a reward of ₹5 lakh.
The fifth person was identified as Ramesh, an area committee member of the banned CPI (Maoist), carrying a bounty of ₹2 lakh. Speaking to ET, deputy inspector general of police (Bastar) Kamlochan Kashyap, said, "The search operation is still continuing as some injured Naxals may be hiding in nearby villages. The identification of those killed is in the process and we are seeking help from villagers."
On Sunday morning, a gunfight took place at a forest in the Indravati National Park area when a joint team of personnel from different security forces was out on an anti-Maoist operation. A large cache of weapons and explosives was seized after the encounter. Two policemen of Chhattisgarh Police were killed during the operation. The number of Maoists killed this year jumped to 89 after the latest operation. Last year, 287 Maoists were killed, 1,000 arrested and 837 surrendered in Chhattisgarh.
Meanwhile, director general of police, Chhattisgarh Police, Arun Dev Gautam, on Monday visited Bijapur and said, "The Indravati National Park is a difficult area (in terms of terrain and dense forest), and our jawans entered the place and bravely carried out the operation."
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The Indravati river is a lifeline for escaping Maoists and helps them cross states to find shelter whenever police action is necessitated. The river originates from the ghats of Dandakaranya ranges in the Kalahandi district of Odisha and passes through Chhattisgarh before joining the Godavari river on the borders of Maharashtra and Telangana.
