The three Naxalites killed in the encounter a day earlier in Chhattisgarh’s Sukma district were senior members carrying a total reward of Rs 18 lakh. Police gave this information on Friday.
An encounter took place with a joint team of security personnel on the hill of Paliguda-Gundarajagudem of Sukma on Thursday morning. Bodies of three Naxalites have been recovered from the incident site.
One of the slain Naxalites, Korsa Mahesh, was an expert in improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and was the alleged mastermind of the violent incidents that took place in Bedre (Bijapur) and Jagargunda (Sukma) areas in 2023 and 2024, an official said.
Sukma Superintendent of Police Kiran Chavan said that Mahesh was the deputy commander of Platoon No. 30 of the Maoists and had a reward of Rs 8 lakh on him. Two others, Madavi Naveen and Avalam Bhima, were members of the area committee and had a reward of Rs 5 lakh each, he said.
The official said that two barrel grenade launcher (BGL), one 12 bore rifle, three tiffin bombs, five BGL shells and explosives and Maoist related items were recovered from the encounter site.
Chavan said, “Mahesh was an expert in making, planting and detonating IEDs. He was allegedly involved in several incidents, including the Naxalite attack near Bedre in December 2023 in which CRPF sub-inspector Sudhakar Reddy was killed.” And in June last year, there was an IED blast on a truck in Jagargunda, in which two CRPF jawans were killed.”
According to the police, so far this year, nine Naxalites have been killed in three encounters at different places in the state. no
