RAIPUR: Two women Naxalites were killed in an encounter with security forces in
Gariaband district
of Chhattisgarh on Monday. A
CoBRA commando
also suffered minor injuries in the gunfight.
A joint team of security personnel comprising Chhattisgarh’s district reserve guards, CRPF, CoBRA, and Odisha’s Special Operation Group (SOG) launched an anti-naxal operation, based on specific inputs about the presence of Naxalites in forests of Gariaband.
Police said that an encounter broke out in forests of Mainpur region of the district along the borders of Chhattisgarh and neighbouring Odisha. The gunfight broke out in the morning and intermittent firing went on till evening, with bodies of two women Naxalites recovered from the site. The encounter continues till the filing of this report.
Gariaband SP Nikhil Rakhecha told reporters that a jawan belonging to CoBRA sustained minor bullet injury and was airlifted to Raipur for treatment, where his condition is stated to be stable.
With the latest killings, Chhattisgarh recorded a Naxal death toll of 28 this year, while 219 Naxalites were killed in separate encounters last year.
