Naxal shutdown in Maha's Gadchiroli sees stray incidents

Incidents of a road roller being torched, roads being blocked besides putting up of posters against the administration and security forces were reported Sunday during the shutdown call given by Naxals in Maharashtra's Gadchiroli district, police said.

The Naxals, through posters put up earlier this week, had claimed that the shutdown was a protest against the killing by security forces of woman Naxals Ramco alias Kamla Narote and Shilpa Durva on April 27, 2019.

The two were killed in an encounter in Gunderwahi forest in Gadchiroli when commandos of C-60, a specialised anti-Naxal unit, were combing the area.

Around midnight, the ultras set ablaze a road roller in Kumargudda village in Bhamragad tehsil, and also put up several banners in the area, an official said.

Police said the weekly markets in Etapalli and Bhamragad were closed on Sunday due to the shutdown call.

A press release by the Gadchiroli SP office Sunday informed that Naxals, as part of their bandh call, had put up banners and blocked roads in the Gurupalli area of Etapalli tehsil and Arawada area in Bhamragad.

The release, however, claimed that the villagers tore down several Naxal banners and burnt them in a heap.

The banners claimed Narote and Durva were first held, tortured and then killed by security forces.

Ramco and Durva were carrying rewards of Rs 16 lakh and Rs 4 lakh on their heads respectively, police said.