7 Maoists shot in textbook offensive; eyebrows raised

Maoist hotbed Gadchiroli’s ‘biggest’ anti-Maoist operation resulting in the death of at least seven ultras on Thursday seems too perfect to be true, claim experts.

Maoist hotbed Gadchiroli’s ‘biggest’ anti-Maoist operation resulting in the death of at least seven ultras on Thursday seems too perfect to be true, claim experts.

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“It is fishy. Not a single jawan was injured in the two hour battle between Maoists and the police,” alleged a social worker of the area, who did not want to be named.

In a similar operation in January, the Gadchiroli police killed six Maoists near Govindgaon. Here too, no policemen were injured.

According to the police, on Thursday morning around 100-armed Maoists were holding a secret meeting in the Bhatpar jungle of Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli district bordering Chhattisgarh, some 300 km from Nagpur, when acting on a tip-off, three separate companies of C-60 — an elite anti-naxal squad — reached the spot, cordoned off the jungle and challenged the ultras.

What followed was a two-hour long bloody battle resulting in the death of seven Maoists. No policeman was killed or injured.

Bharat Thakur, the sub-divisional police officer of Aheri, who led the operation, said, “We have intensified the combing operation and the toll may rise.”