Chhattisgarh: Two naxals killed in encounter in Kondagaon

RAIPUR: Two naxals including a woman were killed in a gun battle with the security forces in Chhattisgarh's Kondagaon district on Tuesday, a senior police official said. A huge cache of firearms and explosives was also recovered from the site, he said.

The gunfight took place around 12:30 pm in the dense forest near Bhandarpal village when a team of the police's District Reserve Guard (DRG) was out on an anti-naxal operation, Inspector General of Police (Bastar range) Sundarraj P said. Kondagaon in Bastar region is located around 200 km from the state capital Raipur.

The operation had been launched on Monday based on information about the presence of Maoists belonging to the `North Kanker-Mainpur Division Coordination Committee' in the jungles of Rajpur, Bhandarpal and Timnar villages along the Kondagaon-Kanker district border, the IG said.

The DRG team ran into a group of ultras near Bhandarpal, leading to an exchange of fire that lasted for about an hour, he said.

After the encounter ceased, the bodies of two Maoists, including a woman, clad in `uniform', were found at the spot, he said. An SLR (self-loading rifle), .303 rifle and three 12 bore rifles along with a huge quantity of explosives and camping materials were also recovered, Sundarraj said.

"It is believed that a few more naxal cadres might have been injured in the action. A search is underway," he added.

A series of search operations have been carried out by the Border Security Force (BSF), Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), a Special Task Force and DRG along the Kanker- Kondagaon border in the last two days, the senior police officer said.