RAIPUR: The Chhattisgarh police in a major operation against the outlawed CPI (Maoist) killed six naxalites including a woman in two separate encounters in the strife-torn Narayanpur district, about 350 km south of Raipur, on Tuesday.
Acting on a tip-off about the presence of rebels in the region, the security forces had moved out on search operations as separate teams in Abujhmad, cited as stronghold of Maoists.
"The operations, carried out by a combined party of Special Task Force (STF) and District Reserve Guards (DRG) based in Narayanpur, were planned on the basis of certain information received. Five rebels were killed in the heavy exchange of fire near forested terrain of Pinka and one woman naxalite shot dead close to Jharaghati in a gunfight. All six bodies have been recovered. The forces are still inside the forest and the bodies are yet to be identified", Bastar range inspector general of police Vivekanand Sinha told the New Indian Express.
Nine weapons including an INSAS rifle, explosives and several items of daily use were also recovered from the area suggesting the Maoists were camping in the region.
There was however no report of any injury sustained by the forces. The police believed the casualties of the Maoists could be more. The operations was led by additional superintendent of police Narayanpur Anil Soni.
Following the gun-battle with the troopers, the Red brigade fled into the nearby junlge, the police said.
The state police cited the ongoing operations as a part of major anti-Maoist strike 'Operation Prahar -2', which has begun from Monday late evening. Around two thousand jawans are involved in the operations.
The "Operation Prahar - 1" launched in June this year was claimed by the Chhattisgarh police as "success" in which twenty Maoists were gunned down.
Narayanpur is among the seven worst Maoist affected districts in the conflict zone of Bastar in south Chhattisgarh. During the valedictory ceremony of State Foundation Day celebration on November 5 the government informed the chief guest President Ramnath Kovind that over 1100 personnel have been killed in Maoist violence in Chhattisgarh after it was carved out as a separate state in November 2000.