20 Naxals killed in Dantewada

NEW DELHI: The Central Reserve Police Force has claimed to have killed around 20 Maoists and injured 15 in a fierce encounter in Chhattisgarh’s Dantewada district. Bodies of nine slain Maoists were found, along with arms and ammunition.

Even though CRPF, which was accompanied by personnel of the Chhattisgarh police, did not suffer any casualty in the Dantewada encounter, Maoists struck back hours later in a separate incident in Bijapur, killing 2 CRPF jawans in a landmine blast.

In Dantewada, the 111th battalion of CRPF, while carrying out an area domination exercise along with 2 SPOs and 4 state policemen, encountered around 150 Maoists in the Jagargunda police station area.

Maoists fired on the security personnel, resulting in an encounter that left around 20 Maoists dead. According to a CRPF release, the appearance and combat fatigues of the dead Naxalites showed that they were well-trained. CRPF Inspector-General Pankaj Kumar Singh said the police saw a pool of blood at the spot and there were certain marks which indicated that some bodies were dragged away. Security personnel also found nine weapons and explosives from the site.

A search operation has been launched in adjoining areas, the officer said.

The landmine blast, hours later in Bijapur district occurred when a bullet-proof vehicle was on its way back from Awapally after ferrying jawans of Timapur-based 168 battalion of CRPF.