RAIPUR: Two women Naxals were gunned down in an encounter with security forces in Chhattisgarh's Dantewada district on Tuesday, a senior official said.
The face-off took place in a forest near Gorli-Mutheli villages under Katekalyan police station limits, about 400 km from the state capital Raipur, when a joint team of security forces was out on a search operation, Inspector General of Police (Bastar range) Sundarraj P said.
There were specific inputs about the presence of cadres of Pedaras LOS (local organisation squad) and Katekalyan Area Committee formations of Maoists in the forests of Jiyakortha, Gorli, Mutheli and Danikortha villages along the border of Dantewada and Sukma districts.
Hence, a joint squad of personnel belonging to the District Reserve Guard (DRG) from Sukma and Dantewada, CRPF's 230th battalion and Chhattisgarh Armed Force (CRPF) was sent to the area, he said.
"At around 11.30 am, the gunfight broke out between Gorli and Mutheli,'' he said. After the exchange of fire stopped, bodies of two women ultras along with two 12 bore rifles and a country made weapon were recovered from the spot, he said.
The official said prima facie, one of the deceased was identified as Pedaras LOS commander Manjula and the other one as Gangi Punem, a protection team member.
No harm was reported to security personnel in the operation, he said, adding that the search operation was still underway.
On Monday, an Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) official was killed and two jawans were injured in separate incidents of Naxal blasts in neighbouring Narayanpur district.