Naxal killed in encounter with police in Chhattisgarh

RAIPUR: A Naxal was killed in a gunfight with police in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district on Tuesday, police said.

The encounter took place around 9:30 am in a forest near Kamalpur village under the Usoor police station area when a team of the District Reserve Guard (DRG) was out on an anti-Naxal operation, Inspector General of Police (Bastar range) Sundarraj P told PTI.

Acting on inputs about the movement of ultras in the area, the DRG, a frontline anti-Naxal force of the state police, launched the operation in the wee hours, he said.

When the patrolling team was cordoning off the forest near Kamalpur, located around 450km from state capital Raipur, ultras opened fire at police personnel, triggering retaliation, the IPS officer said.

The Naxals soon escaped from the spot taking cover of dense forests along a hill, Sundarraj said.

"During a search, the body of a Naxal, two rifles, as many bags, Maoist literature and materials of daily use were recovered from the spot", the IG said.

The identity of the slain ultra was yet to be ascertained, but prima facie it seems he belonged to Usoor LOS (local organisation squad) of Maoists, he added.