Naxal killed in encounter with police in Chhattisgarh

Raipur: A Naxal was gunned down in an encounter with the police in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur district, an official said today. The skirmish took place last evening in a forest near Itampara village when a team of the District Reserve Guard (DRG) was out on an anti-Naxal operation, Bijapur’s Superintendent of Police (SP) Mohit Garg told PTI.

The DRG personnel were cordoning off the forest area near Itampara, located around 450 km from the state capital, when a group of Naxals started firing on them, leading to a gun-battle, he said. After the guns fell silent, the policemen had to take a tactical position and stay in the forest during the night due to rain and strong winds, the SP said.

Early this morning, when the security men searched the area, they found the body of a Naxal, identified as Mangu Oyam (22), who was the banned outfit’s jan-militia member, he said. The police also seized from the spot a 315 bore pistol, its 10 live rounds, an INSAS rifle magazine with four live rounds, an improvised explosive device (IED) of about 2 kg, a couple of detonators, cordex wire, battery and other Maoist material, Garg said.

The patrolling team returned today to its camp in Bijapur after concluding the operation, he added.