NAGPUR: The police gunned down a woman, who was a member of the Communist Party of India (Maoist), in Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra on Friday.
“A team of Gadchiroli police was attacked by the Maoists near Bhendikanhar forest in Pendhari sub-division of Gadchiroli around 6 a.m. today. The Maoists had taken a position in the forest and opened indiscriminate firing on the police team. The police team put up stiff resistance and retaliated the fire in self-defence. As the police team was getting dominant in the gun battle, the Maoists fled from the spot taking advantage of thick forest. After the encounter, the police team launched a search operation in the area and managed to recover the body of a woman Maoist,” the Gadchiroli district Superintendent of Police said in a statement.
The police also recovered a weapon, ammunition and Maoist literature from the spot. The woman had not been identified at the time of writing this report.
In Chhattisgarh, meanwhile, Maoists damaged an under-construction building of a primary school and hospital in Kohakameta village in Narayanpur district on Friday. “The Maoists once again proved that they are opposed to development … The building was being constructed painstakingly by the authorities to provide relief to local villagers,” said Narayanpur SP Santosh Singh.
CRPF constable kills self
In a separate incident, a Central Reserve Police Force constable killed himself with his own rifle at the Pranhita police headquarters in Aheri division of Gadchiroli on Friday morning. Amit Kumar, 29, hailed from Haryana and was part of the CRPF’s 37th battalion. “The reason behind his suicide is still to be ascertained,” the Gadchiroli police said in a statement.