Two women Maoists killed in Gadchiroli encounter; 12 cadres surrender in Chhattisgarh

New Delhi: Two women Maoists were killed on Wednesday in an encounter with police in Maharashtra's Gadchiroli while 12 cadres surrendered in Narayanpur in Chhattisgarh.

A credible input was received in the morning that a few members of Gatta LOS (local organisation squad) of Maoists were camping in a forest adjoining Modaske village in Etapalli taluka, a senior police official said. An operation was immediately launched from Aheri by the police, along with five units of C-60, a specialised anti-Naxal commando squad of the Gadchiroli police, he said.

The CRPF laid the outer cordon. When the C-60 contingent was searching the forest area, they were fired upon indiscriminately by the Maoists, to which the police retaliated, the official said.


Later, during a search, the bodies of two women Maoists were recovered, the official said. An automatic AK-47 rifle, a sophisticated pistol, live ammunition, a large amount of Maoist literature and their belongings were also seized, he said.

Among the 12 who surrendered, nine carried a collective bounty of ₹18 lakh, a senior police official said on Wednesday. The cadres, including five women, turned themselves in before senior police and Indo Tibetan Border Police officials here, Narayanpur Superintendent of Police Robinson Guria said.

Two of them, Sudren Netam (41) and Dhoba Salam, both area committee members of Maoists, carried a reward of Rs 5 lakh each, he said. Two other surrendered cadres carried a bounty of ₹2 lakh each, while three others had ₹1 lakh each on their heads, he said. Two more carried a reward of ₹50,000 each. All those who surrendered were provided an assistance of ₹50,000 each and will be further rehabilitated as per the government's policy, he added.