Chhattisgarh encounter: Bodies of 8 Maoists flown to Telangana hospital, to be identified today

By the afternoon, the bodies of the Maoists killed in a joint operation by the Chhattisgarh and Telangana police will be identified.

The bodies of eight Maoists, who were among the 10 ultras killed in an encounter in Bijapur district in Chhattisgarh, were flown to a hospital in Telangana and will most likely be identified later Saturday, an official said.

Security forces from Telangana and Chhattisgarh had launched the counter-insurgency operation in the forest on the inter-state border based on inputs about a gathering of a large group of ultras.(Representational Photo)

The Greyhounds, an anti-Maoist force, swooped on the camp of Maoists near Pujari Kanker in Bijapur district on Friday, as part of a joint operation with the Chhattisgarh Police. Ten Maoists, including six women, were killed in the early morning operation in which a personnel of the elite force also lost his life.

“Bodies of two Naxals and the junior commando of Greyhounds were airlifted yesterday (Friday). Due to the inaccessibility of the location, the rest of the bodies were flown in a chopper this morning to the hospital,” said superintendent of police of Telangana’s Bhadradri Kothagudem district Ambar Kishor Jha.

“We have received all the ten bodies from the encounter site. Post mortem will be conducted today (Saturday). We will follow all the Supreme Court directions related to encounter cases,” he said.

According to the SP, the post-mortem examination will be conducted at the Bhadrachalam Area Hospital.

The identification process is also underway. “By (this) afternoon we hope to complete the process and get a clear picture,” the SP said.

Security forces from Telangana and Chhattisgarh had launched the counter-insurgency operation in the forest on the inter-state border based on inputs about a gathering of a large group of ultras, officials had said.

“Susheel Kumar, a junior commando of the Greyhounds, lost his life,” officials had said.

Six women were among the ultras killed in the operation which took place around 6.30 am, the SP said.

The Chhattisgarh Police had identified two of the dead Maoists as Sanjeev, a “deputy commander”, and a woman named Pedda Budri.

Both were part of the protection team of Hari Bhushan, secretary of the Maoists’ Telangana state committee, deputy inspector general of police, South Bastar range, Sundarraj P had said.

An AK-47 among others was been recovered from the encounter site indicating the presence of a top leader of the outfit at the site where encounter took place, a senior police official had said.