Naxals killed in Chhattisgarh included senior cadres

Raipur: Four of the eight Naxals gunned down in yesterday’s encounter with security forces in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur district have been identified as senior Maoist cadres, police said today.

Officials also confirmed that six women Naxals were among the dead. Yesterday, the police had said four women were among the eight Naxals killed in the encounter.

“After inquest and identification parade today, six of the eight bodies were identified as women cadres,” Deputy Inspector General of Police (Anti-Naxal Operations) Sundarraj P told PTI over phone.

Four of them were identified as senior cadres. These included three women – Mangli (area committee member and Bhairamgarh Area Committee supply commander), Jaini, (Bhairamgarh area committee member) and Sugna (section commander of military platoon no. 13).

The fourth senior Naxal, identified only as Chandu, was a section commander of military platoon no. 13, he said.

Among the remaining slain ultras, three are women – Kumari (member of military platoon no. 13), Bhime (member of military platoon no. 13) and Hidme (member of Chetna Natya Manch- cultural wing of Maoist). The eighth one was identified as Sanku, a jan militia commander, the officer said.

The encounter had taken place yesterday morning in Timinar and Pusnar villages when joint team of the District Reserve Guard (DRG) and the Special Task Force (STF) was out on anti-Naxal operation in the forests along the border of Bijapur and Dantewada districts, he said.

Mangli and Jaini were carrying a reward of Rs 5 lakh on each of their heads, while Rs 3 lakh each was announced on Sugna and Chandu, he said.

Similarly, Kumari and Bhime were carrying a reward of Rs 2 lakh each on their heads, whereas Sanku was carrying a reward of Rs 1 lakh, Sundarraj said.

Two Insas rifles and as many .303 rifles and .315 bore rifles, explosive materials, Maoist literature, camping items and commodities of daily use were recovered from the encounter site, he said.