RAIPUR: A Maoist commander, identified as Rupi, who carried a bounty of Rs 5 lakh, was killed in an encounter with security forces in Chhattisgarh’s Kanker district, police said on Monday.The gunfight took place in a forested area under the limits of Chhote Betia police station.Acting on specific inputs about Maoist presence, security personnel launched an operation in the region, which led to an exchange of fire.According to superintendent of police Nikhil Rakhecha, the body of the Maoist commander was recovered from the encounter site along with a weapon.Security forces have intensified search operations in the surrounding forest areas to ensure there are no other insurgents hiding nearby.Earlier last month, two Maoists were killed in an encounter with security forces in Chhattisgarh’s insurgency-hit Bijapur district during an anti-Naxal operation along the Indravati river belt.A joint team had launched the operation based on specific intelligence about Maoist presence in the Indravati river area in the Jangla region. An exchange of fire broke out between security forces and Maoists during the combing operation in the forested stretch.
Bijapur SP Jitendra Yadav said that after the encounter, search operations led to the recovery of the bodies of two uniformed Maoists from the spot. Security forces also seized a cache of weapons, including an SLR rifle, an INSAS rifle and a 12-bore rifle, along with explosives and other Maoist materials.(With agency inputs)
