Police in Chhattisgarh said that the six Maoists killed in an encounter on Friday were cadres of the People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) platoon 1 and were responsible for ensuring the safe passage of senior Maoist leaders.
The six had a collective bounty of Rs 48 lakh on them, police said.
One of the Maoists was identified as Rahul Punem (38), alias Lachhu Punem, from Dalla village in Sukma. He was a Divisional Committee member and commander of platoon 1. Four of the killed Maoists were women, officials said.
Inspector General of Police for Bastar Range Sundarraj P said, “One AK-47 rifle, one SLR rifle, one 12-bore rifle, and 11 BGL launchers, among other weapons, were recovered.”
The Superintendent of Police for Narayanpur district, Robinson Guria, said there were multiple challenges during the operation. “We had to cross several rivers and nullahs that were swollen and deep due to the rainy season. The nearest police camp was around 20-25 km away.”
The encounter took place in the Pariya-Kakur forest area in the Abhujmad region near the Maharashtra, Kanker and Narayanpur trijunction. The spot is about 50 km from Narayanpur district headquarters. Abujhmad region is larger than Goa in size and remains 90% unsurveyed.
The operation was undertaken by a joint team comprising District Reserve Guard (DRG) personnel from Narayanpur, Kanker, Bastar, and Kondagaon districts, Special Task Force (STF) units of Chhattisgarh, and battalions of the Border Security Force (BSF).
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So far this year, 221 Maoists have been killed in Chhattisgarh.
