Security forces bust Naxalite camp in Chhattisgarh; recover explosives

Security forces on Thursday busted a Naxalite camp in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district following an encounter and recovered a huge cache of explosives and other materials, police said.

The face-off took place in the morning in the forests of Botelanka, Eranpalli and adjoining villages near the Chintavagu river where Naxalites had set up a transit camp, a senior police official said.

Sensing the presence of security personnel, Naxalites opened indiscriminate fire, prompting retaliation by the men in uniform, he said.

The intermittent firing lasted for a long time following which Naxalites escaped from the spot, within Chintagufa police station's jurisdiction, leaving behind their belongings, the official said.

A huge cache of explosives and items related to Maoists were recovered from the transit camp of Maoists, he said.

A search operation was still underway in the area and security forces were reported to be safe, he added.

Personnel from the District Reserve Guard (DRG), Bastar Fighters and District Force, all units of state police, and 206th, 208th, 204th and 203rd battalions of CoBRA (Commando Battalion for Resolute Action), an elite unit of CRPF, are involved in the anti-Naxal operation, the official said.

On September 24, an encounter took place between security forces and Naxalites near the Chintavagu river in the adjoining Chintalnar area of Sukma wherein police had claimed to have gunned down two cadres.

However, their bodies could not be recovered as their colleagues managed to take them away in the core forest, police had said.

So far this year, security forces have recovered the bodies of 157 Naxalites following separate encounters in the Bastar region comprising seven districts, including Sukma, police said.