HYDERABAD: Days after CPI (Maoist) leaders Oggu Satwaji and his wife Aruna surrendered before the Telangana Police, eight red rebels, including five women, were gunned down in an encounter at Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli district which borders Telangana’s Bhoopalpally district. Following the shootout, police have beefed up security along the States’ border to prevent untoward incidents from taking place. According to sources, special teams engaged in combing operations at Savegam Forest in Gadhciroli district spotted Maoists near the Telangana border.
The deceased rebels are yet to be identified. The special teams had initiated combing operations at different places in Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh after Satwaji and Aruna surrendered. “The bodies are yet to be identified. Eight Maoists, including five women, were killed in an exchange of fire between the security personnel and Maoists,” a source in the police department said. Last April, special teams killed at least 41 Maoists at Boria in Gadchiroli.