Gadchiroli, May 21: As many as 13 Maoists were killed in an encounter with security forces in a forest between Potegaon and Rajoli in eastern Vidarbha’s Gadchiroli on Friday.
The encounter is underway between the C-60 unit of Maharashtra Police and Naxals.
The encounter began at 5.30 am in a forested area near Kotmi, where the Maoists had gathered for a meeting, Sandeep Patil, DIG (Gadchiroli) said.
The C-60 unit commandos of Maharashtra Police cracked down upon the Naxals in a camp near a village. Some weapons, substantial literature and other materials of daily need from the place have been recovered.
Gadchiroli DIG:
According to Sandip Patil, Deputy Inspector General of police (DIG), Gadchiroli, the operation was a huge success for Maharashtra Police and there is a possibility that more Naxals were wiped out in the encounter.
“We had kicked off the operation a day ago itself after learning about the Maoist presence in the forest. So far, we have learnt about 13 bodies being recovered. The searches are still on,” he said.
The encounter between Maharashtra Police and Naxal’s broke out during early morning on Friday at Paydi-Kotmi forest in Etapalli.
It is to mention here that today’s operation comes two months after five Maoists – who had a collective bounty of ₹ 43 lakh – were killed in an encounter in the same district.
A cache of arms and ammunition, including an AK-47 rifle, a .12-bore rifle, a .303 rifle, an 8 mm rifle, as well as some electronic items, was recovered from the encounter site in the Khobramenda forest area.
“Gadchiroli Police’s C-60 commandos conducted the operation… where they were attacked by 40 to 50 Maoists. The exchange of fire lasted for two to two-and-a-half hours, in which five Maoists were killed,” Ankit Goyal, Gadchiroli SP, was quoted by a news agency PTI.
A few days before that encounter district police seized a rifle and three ‘pressure-cooker’ bombs that Maoists were allegedly planning to use to ambush security forces, an official said.
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