Dantewada, September 3 (IANS) At least nine Naxalites were killed in an encounter between police and Naxalites on Tuesday in Loha village of Purangel located on the Dantewada-Bijapur border of Chhattisgarh. A large quantity of weapons, ammunition and guns were also recovered from the spot.
This operation was carried out by DRG and CRPF personnel, who were sent for a search operation at night on the information of a large gathering of Naxalites. This incident falls under Kirandul police station area.
Superintendent of Police Gaurav Rai said that during patrolling on Tuesday morning, Naxalites suddenly started firing on the security forces. Many Naxalites were killed in the retaliatory action of the soldiers. He said that so far the bodies of nine Naxalites have been recovered. Weapons like SLR, 303 rifle, 315 bore gun, a large amount of ammunition and Naxalite literature have been recovered from the spot.
He said that this incident happened in the inner border area, due to which proper contact with the soldiers is not possible. Naxalites have suffered heavy losses in the encounter, but the final number of Naxalites killed so far is not clear.
He further said that the security forces had received information about a large gathering of Naxalites, after which this operation was carried out. He said that the security forces have taken strict action against the Naxalites and the operation against Naxalites will continue in future as well.
A search operation is currently underway at the site of the incident. The exact number of Maoists killed by the security forces will be known only after the encounter is over.
Police officials said that when the security forces went out on a search on Tuesday, they received information that there was Maoist activity in the West Bastar division. After this, the encounter started at 10.30 am on Tuesday and intermittent firing took place from both sides.
Earlier, on August 29, an encounter took place between Naxalites and police on the Narayanpur-Kanker border under the ‘Anti Naxal’ operation. During this, the security forces killed three Naxalites. This encounter took place on the Narayanpur-Kanker border, where the security forces had launched a major operation against the Naxalites. In this operation, the security forces had caused major damage to the Naxalites and killed three Naxalites.
–IANS
PSK/AKJ
