8 Naxals killed in Chhattisgarh gunbattle

Bhopal: In a significant development, eight Maoists, including four women, were gunned down in an encounter with security forces in a jungle on Thursday, in south Bastar region of Chhattisgarh.

The encounter took place near the forested village of Timinar, located at the border of Dantewada and Bijapur districts in south Bastar early in the day, according to Dantewada district additional superintendent of police (ASP) G.N. Baghel.

A joint search party comprising district reserve group (DRG) and special task force (STF) personnel were attacked by a group of armed rebels, which lead to a fierce gun battle between them that lasted for nearly two hours, Mr Baghel told us.

Later, Maoists fled into the core area of the jungle. Security forces later recovered bodies of eight Naxals in uniform, along with a cache of firearms at the encounter site.

The weapons recovered included two INSAS assault rifles, two .303 rifles, a 12 bore gun and a few muzzle loading guns.

“The bodies were being brought to the district headquarters.

Recovery of two INSAS assault rifles indicated that two of the eight slain Maoists might be area commander ranked leaders”, Mr Baghel said.

According to a senior police officer posted in Bastar, the search operation was carried out by the security forces following a tipoff on presence of Maoist leader Ganesh Uiki, a military strategist of Naxals, in the jungle.

Union home minister Rajnath Singh called Chhattisgarh chief minister Raman Singh to congratulate over the successful counter insurgency measure taken by the security forces in Bastar.

The Chhattisgarh chief minister also described it as a major success achieved by the security forces against Left wing insurgency, and congratulated Dantewada district police for it.