C’garh: 5 Slain Maoists in Abujhmad Encounter Identified, Carried Bounty of Rs 21 Lakh

Raipur: Five Maoists slain in the January three encounter in Abujhmad under Narayanpur district in south Bastar of Chhattisgarh have been identified, police said on Wednesday.

They carried a cumulative bounty of Rs 21 lakhs, according to Bastar Range Inspector General of police P Sunderraj.

While four of them including two women were Platform Party Committee Members (PPCM) who were also members of the platoon number 32 of Maoists deployed in Abujhmad area, the other slain Naxal was a militia commander, the police officer said.

The four slain members of platoon number 32 carried bounties of Rs five lakh each, while the deceased militia commander had a reward of Rs one lakh on his head.

The slain Naxals have been identified as Deb Singh, Dinesh, Sumati, and Sukmati (all are members of platoon number 32) and Mahesh, the militia commander.

Security forces had recovered one AK 47, two Self-Loaded Rifles (SLRs), one eight mm rifle, and one 12 bore rifle besides live cartridges and explosives at the encounter site.

A joint operation was launched in Abujhmad on January two, following specific inputs on the presence of top-level cadres of Maoists in the area.

Security forces came under attack by Maoists on January three, leading to fierce gunbattle between them.

A jawan of district reserve guard (DRG) was killed in the incident.

Sources said that the search operation by security forces was launched following inputs on the presence of some politburo members of outlawed CPI (Maoist) such as Ramchandra Reddy in the area.

The top-level Maoist leaders had however managed to escape.

Abujhmad, a 4,000 sq km-Naxal stronghold extending from south Bastar in Chhattisgarh to Gadchiroli in Maharashtra, is believed to have turned into a safe sanctuary for the top-level Maoists.