Raipur: At least 12 Maoists were shot dead in an encounter with a joint patrolling team from five states, near Telangana-Chhattisgarh border, in the wee hours of Friday, while one greyhound commando of Telangana police also lost his life in the gunbattle.
Two of the Maoists were identified as Damodar and Lakshmanna, , including a top leader named Hari Bhushan and six women Maoists, were gunned down in an encounter with security forces near the Telangana-Chhattisgarh border at 6:30 am on Friday. According to sources, Damodar was the head of the north Telangana special zone.
"The encounter started early morning in the Pujari Kanker forests where forces gunned down 10 Maoists", NDTV quoted the Special Director General of Anti-Naxal Operations DM Awasthi as saying.
The incident took place around 500 km from Raipur in the Pujari Kanker forests. The security personnel are sweeping the area to flush out other Maoists.
The encounter was a joint operation by the Chhattisgarh and Telangana Police. Several weapons, including an AK rifle, have been recovered from the area.
The security forces are also trying to identify the dead Maoists, as they believe a few leaders other than Hari Bhushan are also among the deceased.
A joint team of anti-Naxal Greyhounds from Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and special police personnel from Odisha, Chattisgarh and Maharashtra were conducting combing operations in the border areas when the encounter occurred near Pujari Kankar.
Meanwhile, one security personnel was also killed and three others were injured in the encounter. The jawan belinged to the anti-Maoist force called Greyhounds.
"The injured security men have been taken to hospital in Bhadrachalam and if required they will be shifted to a bigger hospital in Raipur," Awasthi added.
Arms and ammunition including one AK 47, five INSAS, one SLR, one .303 rifle, two single bore rifles and pistol recovered in the operation. One sony wireless, three laptops, cash worth Rs 41,000 and some explosive materials also recovered from the spot.
Bastar deputy inspector general said the bodies of ten Maoists, including four women, have been recovered from the spot till now. The body of Commando Sushil has also been shifted along with the other bodies to Bhadrachalam hospital.
Earlier in January, four Maoists had been gunned down in an encounter with security forces in Jharkhand.
