Maoists have suffered major impediment in the recent past with series of encounters in Maharashtra and Chattisgarh. Last Sunday, reports reveal, over 35 Naxals were killed in a major encounter at Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra, today according to sources seven Maoists, including five women cadres, were killed in a fierce gun-battle with security forces in the insurgency-hit Bijapur district, close to the border areas of Chhattisgarh and Telangana.
The encounter occurred eight km inside Bijapur district on the Chhattisgarh-Telangana border near Bhupalpally. Based on a tip-off about the heavy presence of Maoists in the region, the security forces left on the search operation. The Naxals opened fire on the forces which were swiftly retaliated leading to a fierce encounter. “So far we have recovered seven bodies of Maoists”, the Bastar DIG P Sunderraj told the New Indian Express.
The joint operation which was carried out by the Chattisgarh police and Telangana’s Greyhounds near Ipenta in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur district recovered one SLR (Self-Loading Rifle), one revolver, four SBBL (smooth-bore breech loading) guns, six rocket launchers, three grenades, 10 kitbags and four pairs of olive green dress from the Maoist afflicted area.
Three jawans sustained injuries in the encounter that continued for over an hour.
Ahead of the PM Narendra Modi’s visit to the strife-torn Bijapur on April 14, the outlawed CPI (Maoist) protested and desperately attempted to register their presence through violence, setting vehicles on fire and had triggered Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blasts. The seven districts including Bijapur in the conflict zone of Bastar have been declared as among the 30 worst Maoist-affected districts by the ministry of home affairs (MHA).