2 Naxalites killed in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur carried Rs 16 lakh bounty

Bijapur, Sep 13 (PTI) The two Naxalites killed in an encounter with security personnel in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district a day ago carried a cumulative bounty of Rs 16 lakh, police said on Saturday.

Hidma Podiyam (34) and Munna Madkam (25), members of military platoon no. 1 of the outlawed CPI (Maoists), were neutralised in a gunfight with a team of the District Reserve Guard in the forest of the south-west region of the district on Friday, Bijapur Superintendent of Police Jitendra Kumar Yadav said.

He said that the security forces recovered a .303 rifle, a 12-bore gun, eight rounds, batteries, cordex wire, scanner set, Maoist literature and other related materials from the encounter site.

In one of the major strikes on Naxalites, security forces gunned down Modem Balakrishna alias Manoj, a Central Committee Member (CCM) of the banned outfit carrying a reward of Rs 1.80 crore, and nine other cadres during a fierce encounter on the hills of Rajadera-Matal under Mainpur police station limits of the state on Thursday.

So far this year, 243 Naxalites have been killed in separate encounters in Chhattisgarh.

Of them, 214 were eliminated in the Bastar division, comprising seven districts, while 27 others were gunned down in Gariaband district, which falls in the Raipur division. Two other Naxalites were killed in Mohla-Manpur-Ambagarh Chowki district in Durg division. PTI COR TKP ARU