10 Maoists killed, 1 soldier martyred in Chhattisgarh action

Raipur/ Hyderabad: 10 Maoists were killed in a joint operation undertaken by the Telangana and the Chhattisgarh police, in Bijapur. It is said that a senior Maoist leader ‘Hari Bhushan’ was one of the victims. One soldier from the Telangana police has been martyred in the operation. This is said to be the biggest operation undertaken by the security forces against the Maoists.

The states of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana and Chhattisgarh have started a joint campaign against the Maoists. Exchange of confidential information about Maoists has already started between the security forces of these states under the anti-Maoists campaign. Due to this, information that a senior Maoist leader was stationed for the past three days in Bijapur near the Chhattisgarh border with 150 supporters, could be obtained.

Immediately on receiving this information a ‘Greyhound’, an anti-terrorist branch unit was despatched for Bijapur. The unit carried out the action with help of Chhattisgarh police at around 6 a.m. on Friday morning. There was an intense encounter between the police forces of the two states and the Maoists at ‘Pujari Kanker’ about 500 Kilometers from Raipur. The superintendent of police for the ’Bhadradi Kothgudem’ district, Amber Kishore Jha, said that at least 10 of the Maoists were killed in the encounter. Jha informed about the martyrdom of commando ‘Sushil Kumar’ from the ‘Greyhound’.

It is claimed that a senior Maoist leader Hari Bhushan aka Jagan along with another leader Bade Chhoka Rao aka Damodar have been killed in the encounter. But the Chhattisgarh and the Telangana police have clarified that the identification of the Maoists has not yet done. A large quantity of arms has been recovered from the Maoists. This includes two AK-47 rifles, one SLR rifle, and 4 INSAS rifles. The action in Bijapur district has not over yet and police forces of both the states are still deployed there. The campaign against the Maoists will continue and the police force is carrying out a search operation, clarified Superintendent Jha.

Since the past few years, the Indian security forces have intensified their campaign against the Maoists. Along with the police forces from the Maoist-infiltrated states, the paramilitary and anti-terrorist units have also been involved in the campaign.