RAIPUR: A deputy Maoist commander, who carried a reward of 8 lakhs on his head, was killed in an encounter with a team of security forces comprising Border Security Force, Special Task Force and the district police force in the Kanker district of Chattisgarh, about 220 km south of Raipur.
According to the Kanker deputy inspector general of police (DIG) Ratan Lal Dangi, a team of BSF and STF along with a contingent from the district police force left on a search mission to the forested terrain. The Maoists opened indiscriminate fire as the team neared the Kamteda village, about 140 from the Kanker district headquarters.
“The forces swiftly retaliated, killing a rebel who was identified as Jaisingh Kunjam, a Partapur area committee member and a deputy platoon commander. The forces also recovered arms and ammunition from the encounter site,” Dangi told The New Indian Express. The security forces returned to their base camp safely. No injuries were reported, the police said.
In a separate incident, the Sukma police arrested 13 alleged Maoists who were involved in Burkapal attack that killed 25 CRPF personnel on April 24.
In another development, a local Congress leader, formerly a sarpanch, was killed allegedly by Naxalites who accused him of being a police informer in Chhattisgarh’s Dantewada district. Chhannuram Mandavi (55), the ex-sarpanch of his native Cholnar village, was killed with sharp-edged weapons at his house under Kirandul police station limits late last night, police said. (With PTI inputs)