Chhattisgarh: Three maoists gunned down in encounter

Bhopal: Three suspected Maoists were on Sunday gunned down in an encounter with security forces in Chhattisgarh’s south Bastar district of Bijapur. According to deputy inspector general (Dantewada range) P. Sundarraj, a joint search party comprising district reserve group and special task force personnel was ambushed by the armed guerrillas in the Mankelli forest under Gangaloor police limits in the district, leading to the encounter between them.

Later, the ultras escaped to the core areas of the forest. Security forces later recovered bodies of three Naxals along with one INSAS assault rifle, two country-made guns and explosives, at the encounter site. The bodies were yet to be identified, a senior police officer posted in Bastar said. However, the recovery of INSAS rifle indicated that one of the deceased must be a senior Maoist leader, the police said.

On November 7, security forces had gunned down six Maoists, including five women cadres, in two separate encounters in Abujhmad area in Chhattisgarh’s south Bastar district of Narayanpur.