Two Maoists carrying Rs 13 lakh bounty killed in encounter with police in Chhattisgarh

Kanker: Two Maoists, including a “high value target” carrying a reward of Rs 8 lakh on his head and wanted in 39 cases of violence, were killed in an encounter with security forces in Chhattisgarh’s Kanker district on Monday, a senior police official said.

The other cadre was also wanted in connection with a number of Maoist incidents and carried a bounty of Rs 5 lakh, he said.

The gunfight took place at around 3 am in a forest surrounding Kadme village under Siksod police station limits when separate teams of the District Reserve Guard (DRG) and the Border Security Force (BSF) were out on an anti-Maoist operation, Inspector General of Police (Bastar Range) Sundarraj P said in a press conference here.

Acting on a specific input about the presence of Maoists in the forest between Kadme and Metabodli villages, security forces had launched an operation in the area on Sunday, he said.

At around 3 am on Monday, when the DRG patrolling team was near Kadme, some Maoists opened fire on it following which the gun-battle broke out in the forest, located around 200 km from state capital Raipur, the official said.

After guns fell silent, bodies of two Maoists were recovered from the spot, the official said.

Besides, a 315 bore rifle, a country made pistol and huge cache of ammunition along with items of daily use were also recovered from the spot, he added.

In a preliminary investigation, the killed cadres were identified as Darshan Padda (32), a member of the North Bastar Division Committee and secretary of Partapur area committee of Maoists, and Jagesh Salaam (23), commander of a small action team of Maoists in the same division, the official said.

“Padda had been active for last several years in north Bastar area and was wanted in as many as 39 Maoist-related incidents. He was working as an area committee member and was recently elevated as the divisional committee member,” the IG said.

“He was a high value target and carried a reward of Rs 8 lakh on his head,” he added.

Describing Padda’s killing in the encounter as a huge success for security forces, the IG expressed hope that Maoist activities would come down in the area to a great extent after his death.

Salaam was also instrumental in executing several Maoist incidents in the area and carried a reward of Rs 5 lakh on his head, the official said

Kanker Superintendent of Police Shalabh Kumar Sinha, who was present in the press conference, said security forces were still carrying out a search operation in the area.