The security forces in the early hours of Friday eliminated 12 Naxals including a top commander at the Pujar Kanker village near the Telangana-Chhattisgarh border. The area of the encounter is dubbed to be the Tadapalagutta and Pujari Kanker forest areas.
This encounter was spearheaded by Telangana’s elite Greyhounds force which was formed to tackle the menace of Naxals in the state. Unfortunately, the intense gunfight resulted in the death of one Greyhound police constable named Sushil who hailed from the Vikarabad region of Telangana. Two constables are believed to have been injured. The encounter finally ended at 7 AM.
Out of the 12 slain Naxals, one of the deceased is believed to be Hari Bhushan alias Jagan, who was a top leader belonging to the Telangana State Committee of CPI (Maoists). Jagan used to be a military tactician. Another senior leader named Bade Appa Rao is also believed to have perished. Out of the remaining dead Naxals, six are supposed to be women.
The encounter began when the security forces received Intel that the Naxals were hiding in area’s jungles which resulted in the Greyhounds and local police launching a combing operation. After surrounding the Naxals, the security forces demanded that they surrender, but the left-wing terrorists decided to open fire instead.
Apart from Naxals, the security forces also found various upscale weapons like four Insas rifles, an AK-47 and an SLR at the encounter site.
This success means that the security forces are going strength to strength in 2018 when it comes to eliminating the threat of Naxals. As per data updated till 25th February on the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP), a total of 22 left-wing terrorists have been killed this year. Besides that, a total of 25 cadres have surrendered to the authorities.
As analysed by us, the total deaths and surrenders in 2017 stood at 149 and 547 respectively and it remains to be seen if this figure is improved in 2018.
