Naxalite killed in Gadchiroli

The Naxalites of CPI (Maoist) suffered another major setback when one of its dalam (squad) members was gunned down by the police in an encounter near Murumgaon area in north Gadchiroli, bordering Chhattisgarh. Pradip Kumar Maitra reports.

The Naxalites of CPI (Maoist) suffered another major setback when one of its dalam (squad) members was gunned down by the police in an encounter near Murumgaon area in north Gadchiroli, bordering Chhattisgarh, on Tuesday morning.

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According to the district police, the incident took place in the Pannemara jungle near Murumgaon in Dhanora tehsil after fire was opened on a police team of C-60, elite anti-naxalite commandos, by the naxalites. The police personnel retaliated and a gun battle raged for an hour. And in the end, one naxalite was killed and several other left-wing extremists were injured. However, police did not suffer casualties in the incident.

Manoj Kumar Sharma, the additional SP of the district, informed that a group of around 40-50 armed Maoists opened fire on the C-60 when the police team was in its routine patrolling in the area. The elite police immediately retaliated that led to the death of one naxalite. “We suspected that at least four-five naxalites must be injured in the gun battle. However, they succeeded to fled from the scene,” Sharma claimed.

The body of the deceased naxalite, who was killed in the retaliatory fire, has also been recovered from the jungle. He is yet to be identified. The police also seized arms and ammunition and naxalite literature from the spot.

Earlier, in another police-naxalite encounter near Tadgaon in Bhamragarh tehsil in south Gadchiroli, several naxalites were injured on Sunday in an encounter.

Meanwhile, security has beefed up in the district in view of the ensuing Assembly elections, slated on October 13.