Naxal gunned down in Chhattisgarh, weapons recovered

Rajnandgaon, January 15

A Naxal was gunned down on Monday in an encounter with security forces at a forest in Chhattisgarh’s Rajnandgaon district, police said.

The skirmish took place in the morning in Jhilmili forest area when a joint team of personnel from different security forces was out on an anti-Maoist operation, Superintendent of Police Prashant Agrawal told PTI.

The composite squad of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), the Special Task Force (STF) and the District Reserve Guard (DRG) had launched the operation in Bakarkatta, about 160 km from here, bordering Balaghat area of Madhya Pradesh, he said.

A group of ultras fired at the security personnel, following which the patrolling team retaliated.

After the guns fell silent, the security men searched the area and recovered the body of a Naxal, Agrawal said.

Three firearms, including a .12 bore gun, and a huge cache of Naxal-related material were also recovered from the spot, he said.

The identity of the killed ultra was yet to be ascertained, the SP said.

Further details were awaited as the operation was still under way in the region, he added. PTI