Sukma (Chhattisgarh): Two Naxalites including a woman cadre were killed in an encounter which ensued between the jawans of the District Reserve Guard (DRG) and Naxals in the Bheji area of Chhattisgarh's Sukma district, police said on Monday.
Police said DRG jawans fanned out in Bhesai area in search of two Naxalites, who carried prizes of 8 lakh and 3 lakh on them. Two Maoists opened fire on the forces, who retaliated resulting the death of both. One of the slain Maoists was identified as Madkam Erra, who was Gollapally LOS Commander. Chhattisgarh government had declared a reward of Rs 8 lakh for him. The deceased woman Naxalite Podium Bhime was also identified as LOS member. The security forces also recovered arms, ammunition and indiscriminating materials in large quantities from the spot.
The death of Naxalite commander Basant alias Somlu in the encounter is a big blow to the rebels, Sukma SP Sunil Sharma said. He further said that acting on information, a joint team of DRG, CoBRA and CRPF rushed to Danteshpuram for the operation.
First, the DRG jawans were challenged by Naxalites, who came under a barrage of fire from forces. Seeing the DRG jawans firing from both sides, the Naxalites tried to escape taking advantage of the dense forest. Two Naxalites were ambushed by the security forces when they were trying to escape and died.
Earlier on May 1, Naxals torched two tipper trucks engaged in construction work in the Ittapara area of Sukma district, said SP Sukma, Sunil Sharma. The incident had taken place in the jurisdiction of the Phulbagdi police station. According to SP Sharma, three labourers were rescued safely and brought to Phulbagdi police station.
Also read: Dantewada blast: Naxalites planted IED nearly two months ago, says Bastar IG
On April 26, at least 10 policemen and one civilian driver were killed in an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast carried out by Maoists in Chhattisgarh's Dantewada. The attack took place in Aranpur area of Dantewada. Maoists blew up the rented mini-goods van in which the security personnel were travelling, police sources said. The slain security personnel belonged to the District Reserve Guard (DRG). DRG comprises mostly local tribals trained to combat Maoists. They had gone to Aranpur after getting inputs about the presence of Maoists there. The IED blast took place when the Jawans were returning from the area. The area is located around 450 km from the state capital Raipur. Visuals from the spot showed a huge crater splitting the road wide open. Bodies covered with plastic sheets, and also vehicle parts were seen strewn along.
