Chhattisgarh: Senior Woman Maoist Carrying Rs 8 Lakh Bounty Gunned Down in Bastar Encounter
Shanti alias Deve, carrying a Rs 8 L bounty, was gunned down in a joint DRG-BSF operation
Raipur: A senior female Maoist, carrying a bounty of Rs eight lakh, was on Friday gunned down in an encounter with security forces in Kanker district under north Bastar of Chhattisgarh, police said.
The encounter took place on the riverbank of Kotri near the village of Amatola under Chhotebethiya police station, Kanker district senior superintendent of police (SSP) Indira Kalyan Elesela said.
Based on credible intelligence regarding the presence of armed Maoists in the forested and hilly region between the villages of Amatola and Kalpar across Kotri river, a joint search operation involving personnel of district reserve guard (DRG) and the Border Security Force (BSF) was launched in the area, the police officer said.
Security forces came under attack by the Maoists at the river bank, leading to an exchange of fire, police said.
Later, the body of a female Maoist in Naxal uniform along with some weapons was recovered by the security personnel at the encounter site.
The slain Maoist has been identified as Shanti alias Deve, a native of Gundem village under Bijapur district in south Bastar, police said.
She was earlier active in Gobra area committee of Maoists functioning in Garyaband region in east Chhattisgarh and later shifted to North Bastar Division of Maoists.
She was a member of company number five and later of company number seven of People's Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) and carried a bounty of Rs eight lakh.
Security forces have recovered one .303 rifle, one indigenous barrel grenade launcher (BGL), one walkie talkie and other Naxal materials, police said.
According to Bastar range inspector general of police P Sunderraj, as many as 412 Naxals including CPI (Maoist) general secretary Basavaraju alias Ganganna, and Central Committee Member (CCM) Sudhakar were killed in separate encounters in Bastar in the last 18 months.