Three Maoists belonging to the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) got killed in an exchange of fire with the police at Venkatapur village in Mulugu district bordering Chhattisgarh on Monday morning, the police said.
The encounter took place when the district police, along with Greyhounds (elite anti-Maoist special police force), were combing in Tekulagudem forest areas abutting Chhattisgarh border areas under Peruru police station limits of the Vajedu block, the police said.
Mulugu Superintendent of Police G Sangram Singh Patil confirmed that three CPI (Maoist) party members were gunned down, and the police have seized multiple arms and ammunition. “We have recovered a self-loading rifle (SLR), an AK-47 rifle, a machine gun, gadgets and explosive materials from the encounter spot,” he said.
The deceased Maoists are yet to be officially identified, and their bodies have been shifted to a government hospital in Bijapur, Chhattisgarh, the SP added.
However, a police official familiar with the encounter said one of the deceased Maoists was suspected to be Muchakki Ungal alias Raghu alias Sudhakar, a prominent leader working as the area commander of the Maoist party’s Venkatapuram unit.