Chhattisgarh: STF destroy Maoist camp, kill four rebels in Bastar

mangaloretoday.com

Chhattisgarh, Nov 22: Four women Maoists were killed in an encounter with security forces at Nagalgunda hills in south Chhattisgarh on Sunday. A camp of the outlawed left-wing extremists was also demolished.

A joint team of the special task force (STF) and specially trained district reserve guards (DRG) in Dantewada launched a search operation acting on a tip-off late on Saturday night, said Dantewada district police chief Kamal Lochan Kashyap.

 

“During the early hours of Sunday, the forces traced a Maoist camp and swiftly swung into action by opening fire. In an encounter that continued for about half-an-hour, four women Maoists were killed. The remaining fled to a nearby jungle”, said the Dantewada SP.

There were 40 personnel who embarked upon the operation. There is no report of any injury sustained by the forces.

The bodies of the four women in uniforms were recovered from the encounter site, along with their weapons. “Security personnel engaged in operation are returning with a huge cache of items of daily use and literature, among other things seized from the camp. The police had definite inputs from their informers about ration being provided to the Maoist camp from nearby villages, where the Red brigade had also scheduled their meetings,” Kashyap said.

This is the third major encounter this month that has resulted in casualties of Maoists guerrillas in the strife-torn Bastar zone. On November 13, Bijapur police gunned down four rebels and on last Friday, two were killed in an encounter with the security forces in Sukma.

Police believe Maoist casualties to be much higher as rebels manage to get away with the bodies of their slain comrades, killed during gun-battle.

Maoists are present in at least 16 out of the 27 districts in Chhattisgarh, but are most active in south Chhattisgarh’s Bastar. Dantewada is among the seven districts of Bastar, worst affected by Maoist violence.