Four Naxals were on Wednesday killed after 8 hours of encounter on Gadchiroli-Narayanpur border, Maharashtra police said in a statement. “After about 8 hours of intermittent firing in the Koparshi forest area on the Gadchiroli-Narayanpur border, the bodies of 4 Maoists (1 male and 3 female) have been recovered. 4 weapons- 1 SLR rifle, 2 INSAS rifles and 1.303 rifles were recovered. Further search operation is underway in the area,” Neelotpal, SP of Gadchiroli said.
Encounter breaks out between police and Naxals
The development comes after the encounter broke out between police and Naxals on Wednesday morning near the Chhattisgarh border in eastern Maharashtra's Gadchiroli district.
Acting on a tip-off about the presence of Naxals, a C-60 commando team of Gadchiroli Police launched a search operation at Koparshi village, officials said.
29 Naxalites surrender before security forces in Dantewada
On August 20, as many as 29 Naxalites, carrying a cumulative reward of Rs 55.50 lakh on their heads, surrendered before security forces in Dantewada and Narayanpur districts of Chhattisgarh on Wednesday, police officials said.
Of these, 21 Maoists laid down their arms in Dantewada and eight in Narayanpur, they said. In Dantewada district, 21 Left-wing extremists, 13 of them carrying a collective reward of Rs 25.
50 lakh on their heads, turned themselves in before security personnel citing their disillusionment with "inhuman and hollow" Maoist ideology, a senior official said.
Naxals were impressed by rehabilitation drive of police
The surrendered cadres said they were impressed by the police's rehabilitation drive 'Lon Varratu' (a term in Gondi dialect meaning 'return to your home/village') and the state government's new surrender and rehabilitation policy, he added.
Of these 21 Naxalites, Keye alias Kesha Lekam was a member of Company No.1 of the outlawed outfit CPI (Maoist), he said, adding he carried a bounty of Rs 8 lakh on his head.
Among the surrendered Naxalites, 12 cadres were active in different capacities within the Maoist organization. Of these, six carried a bounty of Rs 2 lakh each, five had a reward of Rs 1 lakh each and one Naxalite carried a bounty of Rs 50,000, the official informed.
1,042 Naxalites have so far quit armed movement in Dantewada
With the latest surrender, 1,042 Naxalites, 267 of them carrying bounties, have so far quit the armed movement in Dantewada district under the 'Lon Varratu' campaign since June 2020, police said.
In Narayanpur district, eight Naxalites, including two women, carrying a cumulative reward of Rs 30 lakh on their heads, turned themselves in before security personnel, another official said.
With inputs from agencies
