Maoists’ toll rises to 37 in Gadchiroli encounter
NAGPUR: The police said they had gunned down 37 armed Maoists in 48 hours in two gunbattles in Maharashtra’s south Gadchiroli.
At least six Maoists were killed in a gunfight in Nainer jungle near Jimalgatta village on Monday evening and 15 more bodies were recovered from the site of Sunday’s shootout in which 16 rebels had died.
The police said that among the bodies recovered initially from the Rela-kasnasur forest, two were senior members of the Communist Party of India (Maoist), identified as Srinu alias Srikant, who was in charge of the south Gadchrioli division of the extremist organisation, and Sainath, alias Dolesh Madhi Atram. Srinu and Sainath carried a reward of ₹20 lakh and ₹12 lakh on their heads.
Among the 37 dead militants who were killed in the two encounters, 19 were women, including 18-year-old Suman Kulyeti, a platoon member, who carried a ₹4 lakh reward on her head.
Security forces have recovered 15 decomposing bodies of the ultra-leftists, including two women, floating in the Indravati river on Tuesday morning, said Abhinav Deshmukh, superintendent of police (SP) of Gadchiroli.
“The combing operation in the area is still on. Some weapons were also recovered.”
The latest encounter between the Maoists and commandos of the elite C-60 force took place on Monday evening at a site that is 60 km from the scene of Sunday’s gunbattle. “Six Maoists were killed in the encounter and four of them were women,” Deshmukh said.
C-60 commandos, along with district police and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) troopers, have been engaged in an intense search in south Gadchiroli since Saturday evening, resulting in the fresh encounter on Monday, he added.