Gadchiroli, July 8: Six women Maoists were killed in an encounter with police near Medhri village in Etapalli tehsil of the district this morning, a senior police officer said.
"One of the parties of the C-60 Commando Force was today conducting anti-naxal operation near Medhri village around 10 am, when the Naxals opened fire. The police team immediately retaliated, in which six naxals, all women, were killed," Inspector General of Police (anti naxal operations), Anup Kumar Singh, told reporters here last night.
The jawans of C-60 Commando Force and Cobra battalion had been conducting anti-naxal operations in the interior parts of the district since the past few days, he said.
"They had inputs that the Maoists were hiding in Etapalli-Kasansur area," Singh said.
The bodies of the six Maoist women, who wore green uniforms, have been recovered, he said adding that a large cache of arms and ammunition was also found at the spot.
The deceased are yet to be identified, he said. "There is a possibility that some more Naxals were injured or killed in the police firing," the officer said adding that search operations were on in the area.
This is the 19th police-Maoist encounter in the district this year and so far 23 ultras have been killed in different confrontations, he said.
