Gadchiroli (Maharashtra): Two days after twenty-six Maoists were killed in an anti-insurgency operation in Maharashtra's Gadchiroli district, ETV Bharat's team reached the encounter site to bring a report from the ground zero.
The Maoists were killed in an encounter with the C-60 unit of Maharashtra Police in Dhanora taluk in the Gadchiroli district, part of the Maharashtra-Chattisgarh border. As per sources, the police were attacked during a search operation based on a tip-off that a large number of Maoists had entered these villages.
The bloodstains, bullet marks on trees, scattered things and the silence that surround the thick forest tells the story of the bloody encounter that took place on November 13.
Ration material and other things used by the Maoists still lay on the ground where the Maoists were probably taking a rest. The remnants of a native rocket launcher fired at the police are still present at the spot.
Gadchiroli Police have said that the special jawans of Gadchiroli Police C-60 were running an anti-Naxal operation. In this sequence, 90 to 100 Maoists attacked the police squad at around 6.30am on Saturday.
READ: 26 Naxals killed in encounter with police in Maharashtra's Gadchiroli
The Maoists started firing on the police team with the intention of killing them and looting weapons, according to police. The police gave them a call to surrender. Despite this, they continued to fire on the police following which the police fired in retaliation. As the firing was continuing from both sides, Maoists fled towards the forest and took shelter under a mountain. After the encounter which ended around 3.30 pm, the bodies of 20 male and 6 female Maoists were recovered. According to sources, 29 weapons have been recovered, which include an AK-47, INSAS rifle and SL.
A prominent Moist leader Milind Teltumbde was also killed in the encounter. Teltumbde was a member of the Central Zone Committee of the Maoist organisation. He was an active Maoist in Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha, and was carrying a prize of Rs50 lakhs on his head. Teltumbde aka Sahyadri nee Deepak, a resident of Rajur in Wani taluka of Yavatmal district, had played an important role in Maoist activities across the country.
Naxalite and Maoist killings have been recurrent over the years in Gadchiroli. On May 21, police gunned down 13 Naxals, including seven women, at Kotmi forest in Etapalli tehsil of Gadchiroli district. On April 28, two Naxalites were killed in an encounter with Gadchiroli police in the Gatta-Jambia forest in Etapalli.
