RAIPUR: Ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, the security forces killed four armed cadres of outlawed Maoists in the strife-torn district of Sukma, about 450 km south of Raipur on Tuesday morning. The conflict-ridden Bastar LS constituency will go to polls in the first phase on April 11.
“Based on definite inputs about the movement of Maoists in south Sukma region, a joint team combined mainly of the CRPF’s special commando unit CoBRA force of 201st battalion and the district reserve guards (DRG) left on the search operation. There was a fierce encounter at Bodakode close to Chintalnar on Tuesday morning. Four bodies of rebels in uniform were recovered”, Sukma superintendent of police D S Marawi told the New Indian Express.
The four dead Maoists included two females and two males. The Maoists were reportedly dispersed in small groups and the CoBRA force had a gunfight with one of them inside the forested terrain, the SP revealed. The forces also recovered two INSAS and two 303 rifles from the encounter site. There was however no reports of any injury sustained by the forces.
“The forces are returning to their base camp at Chintagufa. We are planning to air-lift the recovered bodies by chopper on the mid-day owing to difficult inhospitable terrain in the region”, the SP said. The bodies would be brought to the Sukma district headquarter for identification.
According to district police chief, the encounter continued for over an hour and the casualty figures of Maoists could be more. Additional reinforcement have been rushed to the spot and the search operation further intensified. The security forces are on high alert keeping in view the ongoing Tactical Counter Offensive Campaign (TCOC) of the Maoists that began from mid-March and usually continue till June across their area of influence.
In February this year, the troopers gunned down ten Maoists at Tadoki forested terrain of Bhairamgarh during a gunfight in the insurgency-hit district of Bijapur, around 350 km south of Raipur. Sukma and Bijapur are among the seven worst Maoists-affected districts in Bastar, where the banned CPI (Maoist) are waging a war against the state for over three decades now.