Six naxals killed in C'garh in separate encounters in 24 hours

Six naxals were killed in three separate encounters with the police in Chhattisgarh's Bastar region on Friday night and Saturday, officials said.

The encounters took place in Sukma, Bijapur and Dantewada districts.

Three rebels were killed in Sukma district on Saturday evening.

The gun-battle took place around 6 pm in a forest near Tadmetla-Mukram nullah under Chintalnar police station area when a team of police's District Reserve Guard (DRG) was out on patrolling, Deputy Inspector General Sundarraj P told PTI.

On getting information that naxals had dug up a road near Tadmetla, security forces had launched the operation in the area, around 500 km from Raipur, he said.

After the guns fell silent, security forces recovered bodies of three ultras, an Insas rifle and other arms and ammunition from the spot.

One Naxal was killed in Bijapur district earlier in the morning.

The incident occurred around 8.30 am in a forest near Punnur village when the DRG had launched a counter-insurgency operation from Awapalli, around 450 km from Raipur, on a specific input about the movement of wanted Maoist divisional commander Nagesh, Sundarraj said.

"After a brief exchange, ultras escaped from the spot. During a search, the body of a male naxal was found. A .315 bore rifle was recovered from the spot," the DIG said, adding that the identity of the deceased was not established yet.

On late Friday night, two Naxals, carrying cash rewards on their heads, were killed in an encounter with security forces in Dantewada district.

The gunbattle broke out around 11.30 pm in a forest near Kutrem village, said Dantewada Superintendent of Police Abhishek Pallava.

After a brief exchange of fire, the naxals ecaped. The bodies of two rebels were found later, Pallava said.

They were identified as Lachu Mandavi and Podiya, both members of the Malangir area committee of the Maoists, the police said, adding that they were carrying cash rewards of Rs 5 lakh each on their heads.

Security forces have stepped up combing operations in in interior parts of Dantewada in view of by-election to Dantewada Assembly constituency on September 23 following the death of BJP MLA Bhima Mandavi in a Naxal attack in April.