3 Naxalites carrying total bounty of Rs 14 lakh gunned down in Chhattisgarh

Kanker, Sep 28 (PTI) Three Naxalites carrying a cumulative bounty of Rs 14 lakh were killed in an encounter with security personnel in Chhattisgarh's Kanker district on Sunday, a senior police official said.

The gun battle took place on a forested hill near Chhindkhadak village along the border of Kanker and Gariaband districts, where a joint team of security personnel was out on an anti-Naxal operation in the morning, Kanker Superintendent of Police Indira Kalyan Elesela told PTI.

Personnel belonging to the District Reserve Guard (DRG), a unit of the state police, from Kanker and Gariaband, and the Border Security Force (BSF) were involved in the operation, he said.

Bodies of three Naxalites, including a woman cadre, were recovered from the site, along with a self-loading rifle (SLR), a .303 rifle, a 12-bore gun and other Naxalite-related materials, the SP said.

Prima facie, the deceased were identified as Sarvan Madkam alias Vishwanath, the secretary of Sitanadi/Ravas area committee of Maoists, Rajesh alias Rakesh Hemla, an area committee member of Nagari area committee, and Basanti Kunkjam alias Hidme, a member of the protection team Mainpur-Nuapada, he said.

The official said that Madkam and Hemla carried a bounty of Rs 8 lakh and Rs 5 lakh respectively, while Kunjam had a reward of Rs 1 lakh.

Inspector General of Police, Bastar Range, Sundarraj P, said that despite the challenging geographical conditions and harsh weather, the police and security forces deployed in the region have been working with complete dedication to protect life and property, in accordance with the wishes of the government and people.

He appealed to Maoist cadres to accept the reality that Maoism was on the verge of extinction.

Now is the time for them to abandon the path of violence and join the mainstream by taking advantage of the government's rehabilitation policy, the senior official said.

If they continue illegal and violent activities, they will face severe consequences, he added.

With the latest action, 252 Naxalites have been gunned down in separate encounters in Chhattisgarh so far this year. Of them, 223 were eliminated in the Bastar division, comprising seven districts, including Kanker, while 27 were killed in Gariaband, which falls in the Raipur division.

Two other Naxalites were killed in Mohla-Manpur-Ambagarh Chowki district in Durg division.

On September 22, top cadres, Raju Dada alias Katta Ramachandra Reddy (63) and Kosa Dada alias Kadari Satyanarayana Reddy (67), both Central Committee members of the outlawed Communist Party of India (Maoists), were killed in an encounter in Narayanpur district, police said. PTI TKP ARU