P Sundar Raj, DIG (Anti-Naxal Operations) told The Indian Express that the exchange of fire took place at 6 am. (Express Archive/Representational)
Bodies of eight Maoists were recovered Thursday after an encounter on the border of Bijapur and Dantewada districts in Bastar. Senior police officials said two INSAS rifles were among the weapons recovered, indicating that the Maoists involved in the exchange of fire were high-level cadre. With intermittent firing still in progress, and not wanting to take chances, senior officials said that reinforcements have been sent into the area.
P Sundar Raj, DIG (Anti-Naxal Operations) told The Indian Express that the exchange of fire took place at 6 am. “The encounter took place between the Dantewada District Reserve Guard and the Special Task Force teams in the area between Timenar and Pusanar along the border of Dantewada and Bijapur districts. Additionally, we have recovered two INSAS rifles, one 12 bore rifle, and a few other muzzle loading weapons.” He added that the bodies of four men and four women were recovered.
Senior Dantewada based police officials now say 8 Maoist bodies recovered. Encounter was with members of the Maoist Bhairamgarh and the Gangaloor Area Committees. Police teams had been sent out yesterday morning @IndianExpress
— Dipankar Ghose (@dipankarghose31) July 19, 2018
Another senior police official posted in Bastar said that while the operation was carried out by the Dantewada DRG and STF, the exchange of fire took place in the Bijapur district limits, under the Gangaloor police station limits. “An operation was launched on a tipoff, and as the Timenar area was being cordoned off, a heavy exchange of fire broke out. There are still search operations in progress. The weapons recovered, like the INSAS rifles, are indicative of the seniority of the cadre involved. But identification will only happen once that process is over and bodies are brought to the camps,” a senior official said.