At least four suspected Maoists, two of whom were members of the banned CPI (Maoist), were killed in a gunfight with security forces in Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli district on Tuesday morning, police said.
The encounter which lasted for around two hours, took place in the Kolamarka mountains, bordering Telangana, some 400 kms from Gadchiroli district.
Superintendent of police (SP), Gadchiroli, Neelotpal, informed that the suspected Maoists killed had a collective bounty of ₹36 lakh.
The district police superintendent stated that they received information on Monday afternoon about the presence of the suspected Maoists in Gadchiroli. They had entered from neighboring Telangana by crossing the Pranhita River with the aim of carrying out subversive activities amid the model code of conduct in place for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
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“After confirming the information, we immediately organised multiple police teams, specialised in combat operations and the Central Reserve Police Force’s (CRPF) quick action team. They were sent for a search in the area,” Neelotpal informed.
After the firing ceased and the area was searched, four male bodies were recovered, along with a cache of arms and ammunition, including one AK-47, one Carbine, two country-made pistols, and CPI (Maoist) literature from the spot.
The district police suspect that a few injured suspected Maoists may have managed to escape from the area after the encounter.
“The deceased and suspected Maoists have been identified as Vargeesh, Magtu, both secretaries of different divisional committees of the CPI (Maoist), and platoon members Kursang Raju and Kudimetta Venkatesh,” Neelotpal said.
The area has been cordoned off and a search operation is currently underway in the area after the incident, the district police chief added.
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