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4 women Maoists with ₹62 lakh bounty killed in Madhya Pradesh forest encounter
Acting on information that a group of Maoists had gathered in Kanha-Bhoradev division in the Ronda forest area of Supkhar range, a search operation was started in the forest
Bhopal/Jabalpur: Four female Maoists, including a commander and an area committee member from the Communist Party of India (Maoists), carrying a combined bounty of over ₹60 lakh, were killed on Wednesday in a police encounter in Balaghat’s Ronda forest, Madhya Pradesh, police said.
An officer said that the four deceased include Asha from Sukma, a commander of the Bhoramdev Area committee, who had a reward of ₹20 lakh. The other three were Sheela alias Sarita from Kondagaon, and Ranjita and Lakhkhe Maravi, both from Sukma, with each carrying a reward of ₹14 lakh.
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A search operation is underway in the forest after bloodstains were found, indicating that several of the 25 Maoists involved in the gunfight may have been injured, said Sanjay Kumar, inspector general of police, Balaghat.
“Acting on information that a group of Maoists had gathered in Kanha-Bhoradev division in the Ronda forest area of Supkhar range, a search operation was started in the forest. On Wednesday afternoon, about 25 Maoists hiding in the forest started firing on a combined team of the Hawk Force and police to which they retaliated. The encounter continued for around four hours. During this time, 100 rounds were fired from force’s side and 150 rounds were fired by Maoists,” he said.
Following the encounter, four bodies of Maoists were recovered. “Around 16 cases were registered against Asha and 13 against Sarita in Madhya Pradesh,” Kumar said.
