26 Maoists shot dead in Maharashtra
MUMBAI: Top Cpi-maoist Central Commitee Member Milind Teltumbde -- who carried a booty of Rs50 lakh -- was among the 26 Maoists, including 6 women, who were gunned down by security forces in Maharastra’s Gadchiroli district, Home Minister Dilip Walse-patil said on Sunday.
Milind Teltumbde, 57, is the brother of human rights activist and scholar Anand Teltumbde - and the brother-in-law of Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi President Dr Prakash Ambedkar.
Anand Teltumbde is among the group of so-called “Urban Maoists” who were raided in early and mid-2018 in connection with the Koregaon Bhima-elgar Parishad cases, and is currently lodged in the Taloja Jail, Raigad.
Among those eliminated in Sunday’s gunfight include 6 women Maoists, 3 Commanders of various Dalams and 13 carrying huge collective cash rewards of Rs 1.38 crore on their scalps -making it one of the most successful security operations in recent years, Superintendent of Police Ankit Goyal and other senior officers told media persons in Gadchiroli this evening.
The Commanders who have been “neutralised” are Kishan alias Jaiman of Korchi Dalam and Sannu alias Kovachi of Kasansur Dalam, and Lokesh alias Mangu Podyam of Company No. 4.
Besides Teltumbde with a reward of Rs50 lakh, Lokesh carried a booty of Rs20 lakh, and Shivaji Ravji Gota alias Mahesh with Rs16 lakh, on his head.
Those who carried lower amounts of rewards include: Kishen alias Jaiman and Sannu alias Kovachi (both Rs8 lakh), and Tilak Manku Jade alias Bhagatsingh alias Pradeep (Rs6 lakh).
The others are: Manso Sukhram Boga alias Vimla, Dalsu Raju Gota alias Bandu, Dalpat Lalsai Kachlami alias Pramod, Musakhi alias Kosa, Sadhu Sonu Boga alias Prakash, Lacchhu, Dilip Hirooram Tulayi alias Navluram (all Rs 4lakh each) and Chetan Pada (Rs 2lakhs).
The security forces seized a large cache of arms and ammunition comprising 5 AK-47 rifles, an AKM-UBGL, 9 SLRS, one three mm pistol, one INSAS rifle, nine 2.2 single bore-guns, 12-bore gun, and three 0.303 rifles, besides explosives in huge quantities.
The encounter started around dawn on Saturday and continued for nearly 10 hours till late aternoon, making it one of the biggest operations with 16 C-60 commandos and over 500 personnel batling in the treacherous jungles on the Maharashtra-chhatisgarh border.