C'garh: 2 Naxals held after encounter in Dantewada

Two Naxals were Friday arrested after a gunfight with security forces in Chhattisgarh's Dantewada district, police said.

The two, identified as Baman and Lakshman Vetti, were held from the forest near Mangnar village in Barsoor police station limits, a local police official said.

A patrolling team of the District Reserve Guard (DRG) and Special Task Force (STF) was out on a search operation in the interiors of Barsoor, located around 450 km away from the capital Raipur, he said.

"Near Mangnar, the patrolling team came under Naxal fire. After the Naxals fled following retaliatory fire from the forces, the two were nabbed while trying to flee from the spot," he said.

Baman is a member of "military platoon no 16" of the Maoists and was carrying a reward of Rs 2 lakh on his head while Vetti is the head of "Janatana Sarkar squad" and had a reward of Rs 1 lakh on his head, the official said.

On Thursday, security forces had gunned down a Maoist "commander" Madvi Muiya in Kirndul area of Dantewada.