The identity of the killed men was not immediately known, but security agencies believe some top Maoist leaders could be among those dead, officials said.
File photo of security forces patrolling in Maoist areas of Chhattisgarh. Credit: Reuters
Hyderabad/Raipur: At least ten suspected Maoists were killed in an encounter with police in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur district on Friday morning, a senior official of the Telangana Police said. The alleged Maoists were killed in a joint operation by the Telangana and Chhattisgarh Police.
The identity of killed men was not immediately known, but security agencies believe some top Maoist leaders could be among those killed, officials said.
According to the Indian Express, at least 12 Maoists were shot dead in an encounter with a joint patrolling team from five states, near Telangana-Chhattisgarh border. Two of the Maoists were identified as Damodar and Lakshmanna, the newspaper said, quoting sources. Damodar was the head of the north Telangana special zone.
A joint team of anti-Maoist Greyhounds from Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and special police personnel from Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra were conducting combing operations in the border areas when the encounter occurred near Pujari Kankar, it said.
Meanwhile, agency reports said one jawan was also injured in the gunfight which took place in the Pujari Kanker forests under Pamed police station area, around 500 km from Raipur, quoting Bijapur SP Mohit Garg. He said a cache of weapons was recovered from the encounter site.
“It was a joint operation by the Chhattisgarh and Telangana Police. Initial reports indicate the ten Maoists were killed in an exchange of fire between them and police at around 6.30 am in Bijapur district.
A clear picture would emerge later, the Telangana police official told PTI.
The bodies are being shifted to a nearby hospital for post-mortem and other formalities, the official said .
The identity of killed Naxals was not immediately known, but security agencies believe some top Naxal leaders could be among those killed, officials said.