5 Naxalites killed in encounter with security forces in Maharashtra's Gadchiroli

The encounter took place in a forest in Bhamragadh taluka and was led by the commandos of the C-60 specialised combat unit of the Gadchiroli police.

In Short

• Two males, three females among neutralised Naxalites
• Naxalites carried Rs 38 lakh as cumulative bounty on their heads
• 85 Naxalites killed in last three years in Gadchiroli district

Five Naxalites have been neutralised in an encounter with security forces in Maharashtra's Gadchiroli district, police said on Monday.

The encounter took place in a forest in Bhamragadh taluka and was led by the commandos of the C-60 specialised combat unit of the Gadchiroli police.

Credible information was received that some Maoists have been camping over the past three to four days with the intention of carrying out destructive activities, police said in a press statement.

"They were reportedly hiding and camping at two different locations in the forest area of Koparshi, Bhamragad, located near the border of Gadchiroli, Maharashtra and Narayanpur, Chhattisgarh with an aim to carry out subversive activities in the backdrop of the upcoming Vidhansabha Election-2024", the statement added.

Acting on an intelligence tip-off, on October 19, a total of 21 units of anti-Maoist C-60 squad and two units of QAT (CRPF) were immediately despatched for the area search at two different locations in the Koparshi forest area.

On Sunday morning, as the teams were doing area search operation at around 7:00 am, they were fired at indiscriminately by the Maoists. The C-60 search party retaliated strongly. Eventually, the Maoists managed to flee into the dense forest upon witnessing the intensifying police pressure, the statement added.

After the gunfight which lasted for about eight hours, search and combing operations in the area led to the recovery of two male and three female Maoists' dead bodies.

The five Naxalites neutralised by the security have been identified as Jaya, Saoji, Deve, Basant, and Sukhmati, who had a cumulative bounty of Rs 38 lakh on their heads.

A number of criminal cases have been registered against these Maoists, including encounter, arson, murder etc.

The police also recovered five firearms from the site of the encounter.

Meanwhile, one C-60 commando Kumod Prabhakar Atram sustained two bullet injuries in the gunfight. He was evacuated immediately during the middle of the operation with the help of a helicopter and admitted in a hospital in Nagpur. His condition was pronounced to be stable and he was out of danger now, police said.

Police stressed that anti-Maoist operations are being further intensified in the area. In the last three years, due to sustained efforts of the Gadchiroli Police, 85 hardcore Maoists have been neutralised, 109 Maoists have been arrested and 37 have surrendered.

Gadchiroli Superintendent of Police (SP) has appealed to all Maoists to surrender and join the mainstream.