14 Maoists killed in separate encounters in Chhattisgarh

Sukma/Bijapur, Jan 3 (PTI) Security forces killed 14 Naxalites, including wanted ultras Mangtu (DVCM) and Hunga Madkam, in separate encounters in Chhattisgarh's Sukma and Bijapur districts in the Bastar region on Saturday, officials said.

While 12 Naxalites, including Mangtu (DVCM), were neutralised by the security forces during an exchange of fire in Sukma, the bodies of two Maoist cadres, including Hunga Madkam, were found in the forests of Gaganpalli village in Basaguda, Bijapur, senior officials in the Ministry of Home Affairs said.

In Bijapur, the forces recovered one SLR rifle and one 12-bore rifle, along with the bodies of two Naxalites, they said.

A senior police official said the encounter broke out in the southern region of Sukma district when the team of security personnel was out on an anti-Naxalite operation.

In Bijapur, the gunfight broke out in a forest in the southern region of the district when a team of the District Reserve Guard, a unit of the state police, was out on a similar operation around 5 am, another official said.

Intermittent firing was underway when the last reports were received. Further details were awaited, the official said.

Last year, 285 Naxalites were gunned down in separate encounters with security forces in Chhattisgarh. PTI ABS TKP DIV DIV