RAIPUR: Four days before Maharashtra polls, five Maoists, including two women, were shot dead in a nearly daylong encounter with security forces in Abujhmarh forests of Bastar Saturday. The gunbattle took place in a jungle on the border of Kanker and Narayanpur, close to the Maharashtra border.
Security personnel seized five automatic weapons, including an Insas and an SLR, and a large quantity of explosives from the encounter site. Two jawans were injured and have been flown to Raipur. One of them had a narrow escape as a bullet grazed his head. A force of around 1,450 jawans set out from Kanker and Narayanpur camps for a location north of Tekameta in north Abujhmarh after being alerted about the presence of central committee member Abhay and his cadres.
2 jawans hurt in first encounter in Madanwada after 5-year lull
When the forces were searching the target area, they spotted 25-30 armed Maoists around 8am and an encounter broke out. Sporadic gunbattles continued till the evening, said Bastar IG P Sunderraj. After the guns fell silent, police found five dead Maoists.
Bastar Fighters head constable Khileshwar Gawde and District Reserve Guards (DRG) constable Hiraman Yadav were injured. They were flown to Raipur where they have been stabilised.
The Maoists will be identified once forces return to their bases, said the IG. Personnel from Chhattisgarh DRG, Bastar Fighters, state STF and BSF were part of the operation. Forces have been on the offensive all year, forcing Maoists to disperse. This led to the first encounter in Madanwada region after a nearly five-year lull, indicating Maoists are looking for refuge.
Madanwada is where then Rajnandgaon SP Vinod Kumar Chaubey was killed, along with 28 policemen, in one of the biggest ambushes in Bastar. Rajnandgaon Range police said they had precise inputs about the presence of Maoists. DRG and ITBP jawans intercepted them in Khursekala forest. After a brief exchange of fire, the Maoists fled.