In the Mohla-Manpur-Ambagarh Chowki district of Chhattisgarh, an encounter occurred between security forces and Naxalites on Wednesday. The security forces successfully neutralized two high-ranking Naxalites, who carried a combined reward of 35 lakh rupees. The clash took place in the forests of Banda Hill, under the jurisdiction of the Madanwada police station, during an anti-Naxal operation conducted by a joint team of the District Reserve Guard (DRG) and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP).
The operation was initiated on Tuesday night based on intelligence inputs regarding the presence of senior Maoist leaders in the area. On Wednesday afternoon, amidst heavy rain, the Naxalites opened fire on the forces while they were cordoning off the Banda Hill area near Retegaon village. The security forces retaliated, and after the encounter concluded, a search operation led to the recovery of the bodies of the two Naxalites.
The deceased Naxalites were identified as Vijay Reddy, a member of the Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee, and Lokesh Salame, a member of the Divisional Committee. Reddy had a bounty of 25 lakh rupees on his head and was also wanted in the neighboring state of Maharashtra. Salame carried a reward of 10 lakh rupees. Police are currently searching for the associates of the deceased Naxalites. According to police sources, Reddy was a prominent Maoist leader in the Rajnandgaon-Kanker border division and was highly active in the area bordering the Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra.
This year, a total of 229 Naxalites have been eliminated by security forces in Chhattisgarh, with 208 of those being in the Bastar division. The districts included in this tally are Bijapur, Bastar, Kanker, Kondagaon, Narayanpur, Sukma, and Dantewada. District Superintendent of Police Y.P. Singh stated that the encounter occurred during a search operation, resulting in the deaths of high-ranking Naxalites.
