In a major success, security forces neutralised five Naxalites in Chhattisgarh's Bastar Kanker region last week. Providing details of the Naxalites, the police official on Monday said that the Naxalites were from senior cadres carrying a cumulative bounty of Rs 28 lakh.
These Naxalites, police claimed included two women. They were gunned down in an encounter with security personnel during a joint anti-Naxal operation in the Abhujmaad area along the Narayanpur-Kanker inter-district border on Saturday.
Divisional Committee member killed
Among them, Kanker Superintendent of Police Indira Kalyan Elesela said woman cadre Vanoja Micha Karam was a divisional committee member and carried a bounty of Rs 8 lakh. The others included Suresh Gavde, an area committee member, and party members Santosh Kurchami, Manish Padda and Punita, Kanker SP said, adding that they carried a reward of Rs 5 lakh each.
Cache of arms, explosives recovered
The official said that the security personnel also recovered arms including, an SLR (Self-Loading Rifle), an INSAS rifle, a 12-bore rifle and a .315-bore rifle, a barrel grenade launcher (BGL) and a huge cache of explosives items from the encounter site.
IEDs neutralised
Moreover, on Sunday, when the security forces were returning from the operation they also recovered two IEDs planted by Naxalites and neutralised them, the SP added. Talking about the anti-Naxal operation this year, the police said the bodies of 197 Naxalites have been recovered in separate encounters in the Bastar division, comprising Kanker, Kondagaon, Narayanpur, Bastar, Bijapur, Dantewada and Sukma districts.
(With inputs from agencies)
