Naxal gunned down in encounter with police

A suspected Naxal was today gunned down in an encounter with security forces in Chhattisgarh's insurgency-hit Kondagaon district, police said.
The skirmish occurred in the forests of Heeramandal under Kondagaon police station limits between a team of District Reserve Group (DRG) and rebels, Inspector General of Police Bastar Range SRP Kalluri told PTI.
Acting on specific intelligence inputs, a small action team of DRG, comprising 10 personnel, launched an operation last night in Heeramandal forest, located about 250 kms from the state capital, he said.
After carrying out operation for the entire night in the forests, the security personnel were returning to their camp in the morning when a group of armed rebels opened indiscriminate fire on them between Heeramandal and Medpal, prompting the policemen to retaliate, he said.

The gun fight lasted for about 30 minutes, following which the Naxals fled to deep forests on finding security forces zeroing-in on them, he said.
Later during search, the body of a cadre clad in 'uniform', two muzzle loading guns and commodities of daily use were recovered from the spot, the IG said.
The slained Maoist was identified as Baldev alias Janesh, who was active as member of military company number 6 of Maoists, he said, adding the rebel had earlier served as a member of Mandgao Local Organisation Squad.