Mumbai: In a major success for anti-Naxal operations, four hardcore Maoists were neutralised in a fierce encounter with the Gadchiroli Police and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) near the Maharashtra-Chhattisgarh border early Friday morning. The gunfight occurred during a meticulously planned operation launched following credible intelligence about Maoist activity in the dense forest region.
According to the release, the operation was led by Additional Superintendent of Police Ramesh and involved 12 C60 commando teams, a specialised anti-Naxal unit of Maharashtra Police, along with a CRPF unit, totalling nearly 300 personnel, as per media agency ANI.
The teams began their movement from Kawande and Nelgunda on Thursday afternoon and reached near the Indravati riverbank, close to the newly established Forward Operating Base (FOB) at Kawande, despite facing challenging weather conditions, including heavy rainfall.
The encounter erupted on Friday morning when the Maoists opened indiscriminate fire on the advancing forces during a cordon-and-search operation. The commandos retaliated strongly, leading to a two-hour-long exchange of gunfire. After the area was secured, security forces recovered four Maoist bodies, one Self Loading Rifle (SLR), two .303 rifles, a traditional Bharmar gun, walkie-talkies, camping equipment, and Maoist literature from the site.
On May 21, in a significant setback for the Maoist insurgency, security forces in Chhattisgarh eliminated 27 Naxals, including CPI-Maoist General Secretary Nambala Keshav Rao, also known as Basavaraju, during a large-scale joint operation in the Abujmarh forests of Narayanpur district.
Inspector General of Bastar Range, P Sundarraj, stated that the operation, which led to the deaths of 27 Naxals, including Basavaraju, was conducted by District Reserve Guard (DRG) teams from Narayanpur, Dantewada, Bijapur, and Kondagaon, as per report.
Sundarraj said the encounter occurred in Abujmarh, a well-known Naxal base, after receiving intelligence about the presence of top Maoist leaders. He mentioned that AK-47 rifles, SLR-INSAS carbines, and large quantities of arms and ammunition were recovered. One DRG jawan was martyred and several others were injured in the operation, which also resulted in the seizure of a significant weapons cache.
