BHOPAL: In an early morning anti-Maoist operation by the Madhya Pradesh police, two armed and wanted women Maoist cadres were gunned down by the state police in the jungles of Mandla district on Wednesday.
Confirming the operation, special DG (anti-naxal) of MP Police, Pankaj Srivastava, told The New Indian Express that each of the slain Maoist women who hailed from Chhattisgarh carried Rs 14 lakh bounty, meaning a collective Rs 28 lakh bounty.
The women Maoists duo identified as Mamta and Pramila, hailed from Chhattisgarh and were part of the left-wing extremists (LWEs) Kanha-Bhoramdev division, which is active in Balaghat, Mandla and Kawardha districts of MP and Chhattisgarh.
The incident happened in the dense forests under the Bichiya police station area of east-central MP’s Mandla district at around 8 am.
Arms, ammunition and a wireless set have been seized from the spot.
This is the second major success for the special Hawk Force engaged in anti-Maoist operations in Maoist-affected Balaghat, Mandla and Dindori districts of MP within 42 days.
Earlier, on February 19, four women Maoist cadres (the maximum in a single anti-Maoist operation so far in MP) were gunned down in an alleged encounter in the Supkhar forest area of Balaghat district.
The two women Maoists killed on Wednesday morning were part of the Kanha-Bhoramdev division of the Maharashtra-Madhya Pradesh-Chhattisgarh zonal wing of the outlaws, which is active in the bordering districts of the three states.
Currently, there are around 10-15 armed cadres forming the KB division, which has been active in parts of the Kanha National Park (KNP) of MP and the Bhoramdev Wildlife Sanctuary in Kawardha (Chhattisgarh) since 2019.
Out of the 10-12 armed cadres forming part of the KB division, majority 7-8 are women, while remaining 3-4 are men, notably including Surendra alias Kabir, Rakesh and Samar.
“Hailing from Maharashtra, Surendra alias Kabir, who is currently moving along with the KB division cadres, is believed to be currently heading the special MMC zone, after the death of former chief Milind Teltumbde in an encounter in Maharashtra in November 2021,” a senior MP police officer claimed.