Chhattisgarh:4 Maoists killed in encounter

NIZAMABAD : MAOISTS KILLED IN ENCOUNTER ?: body of a CPI( Maoist) activist lies over his body at the site of the encounter? at the foothills of the Mannala Gutta in Nizamabad -Karimnagar Border in Andhra Pradesh on Monday . ---Photo: P. V. Sivakumar / 07-03-2005

Srinivas Reddy

HYDERABAD: Security forces shot dead four Maoists in a gun battle at a place between Midtur and Pechapal villages in Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh on Monday night.

The exchange, in which the security forces established an upper hand, was between nearly 100 Maoists and more than 300 security personnel.

Billed as the first success of the security forces in recent times, the operation was taken up jointly by the police teams of Dantewara and Bijapur districts, the Special Task Force and the CRPF.

The teams were returning to their base camp when they chanced upon the Maoists and the gun battle ensued near Kokodi Nala.

The police believe at least one woman naxalite was killed in the fighting. However, her comrades took the body away.

Several injured naxalites were also carried inside the jungles, the police said.

Security forces recovered bodies of four naxalites, a rifle, two country-made revolvers, three ‘tiffin’ bombs and a hand grenade from the scene.

“It was a heavy gun battle. Our forces fired nearly 1,500 rounds of ammunition and it lasted for over two hours,” Inspector General R.K. Vij told The Hindu from Raipur. The Hindu