Raipur: The Chhattisgarh Police on Wednesday claimed to have seized arms, ammunition and explosives from the site of the encounter in Narayanpur district where five Maoists were killed in a gunfight a day ago.
Five suspected Maoists were killed in a gunfight with security forces in Chhattisgarh’s Narayanpur district on Tuesday. Inspector general of police (IG), Bastar range, Sunderaj P, said that the bodies of five Maoists were found after the encounter, which took place in the forest under the Kohkameta police station area.
Police said they are yet to identify the Maoists, but the deceased could be Naxals belonging to the People’s Liberation Guerilla Army Company No. 1.
Sunderaj said that an anti-naxal operation was launched on June 30 from different police stations and camps in Narayanpur, including Kohkameta, Sonpur, Irakbhatti and Mohndi.
Personnel from the state police’s District Reserve Guard (DRG) and Special Task Force (STF), along with the 53rd battalion of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and the 135th battalion of the Border Security Force (BSF) were involved in four-day long the operation, the IG said.
A gunfight broke out between the security forces and some suspected Maoists on Tuesday at around 10:30am when security forces were cordoning off a forest between Hikulnar and Ghamandi villages, said the IG.
{{/usCountry}}A gunfight broke out between the security forces and some suspected Maoists on Tuesday at around 10:30am when security forces were cordoning off a forest between Hikulnar and Ghamandi villages, said the IG.
{{/usCountry}}Guns, including one .303 rifle, three .315 bore rifles, two muzzle-loading rifles, BGL (barrel grenade launcher) shells and a huge cache of ammunition and explosives, were seized from the encounter spot, he said.
With this encounter, 138 suspected Maoists have been killed so far this year in separate encounters with security forces in the Bastar division which comprises seven districts, including Narayanpur.
While 482 Maoists were arrested, 453 surrendered during the same period in the division, according to the IG.