Raipur: Three dreaded Naxals, including a woman, were killed and a Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) jawan was injured Monday in a fierce gun-battle between ultras and security forces in Chhattisgarh’s Kanker district on Monday, police said. The three Naxals were collectively carrying a reward of Rs 18 lakh on their heads, officials said.
The gunfight took place around 8.00am in a forest between Padkaelbeda and Kosranda villages under Tadoki police station limits when separate joint teams of the SSB and local police were out on an area domination operation, Inspector General of Police (Bastar Range) Sundarraj P told this agency.
The patrolling teams, comprising personnel from SSBs 33rd and 28th battalions and local police, had launched the operation in forests of Tadoki and Rowghat areas, located around 150 km from the state capital Raipur, he said. These two battalions of SSB have been deployed in the area since 2016 exclusively for guarding the under- construction Dallirajhara Rowghat railway project.
When one of the patrolling teams was cordoning off a forest area close to Kosranda village, a group of Naxals opened fire on security personnel, leading to the gun-battle, police official said. The exchange of fire lasted for about one hour following which rebels escaped, he said.
“During search of the encounter site, bodies of three ultras, including a woman, and three weapons were recovered,” the IG said. A huge cache of explosives was also seized from the spot, he added.
The killed naxals were identified as Jyoti, Badru and Guddu, who were active as members of the Maoists’ PLGA (People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army) company number 5, which handles activities of the banned outfit in north Bastar, the official said.
“Jyoti carried a reward of Rs 8 lakh on her head, while the two other cadres were carrying rewards of Rs 5 lakh each on their heads,” informed the IG.
“With this incident, seven Naxals have been killed in separate encounters with security forces in Bastar range in the last couple of weeks during the post monsoon counter- insurgency operations,” the IG added.