Narayanpur, Sep 24 (PTI) Two of the three Naxalites killed in an encounter in Chhattisgarh’s Narayanpur district on Monday have been identified as senior cadres carrying a collective bounty of Rs 41 lakh on their heads, a senior official said.
Of them, Rupesh, a member of the Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee (DKSZC), considered to be the strongest formation of the Maoists, was carrying a reward of Rs 25 lakh, said Inspector General of Police (Bastar Range) Sundarraj P on Tuesday.
He is the third DKSZC member killed in encounter with security personnel this year in the state, the official told PTI.
Police on Monday claimed that three Naxalites, including a woman, were gunned down in an encounter with security personnel in Abujhmad area along Chhattisgarh-Maharashtra border.
Of the three, two were identified as Rupesh and Jagdish, while the identity of a woman cadre was yet to be ascertained.
“Rupesh was heading company no 10 of Maoists and active in Gadchiroli area of Maharashtra,” the IG said, adding that he carried a reward of Rs 25 lakh on his head.
Earlier in April, DKSZC member Joganna was killed in Narayanpur district, while another member of the same formation, Randher, was killed on September 3 in Dantewada district.
DKSZC is in charge of Maoist activities in Bastar region of Chhattisgarh besides parts of adjoining Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Telangana and Maharashtra.
Jagdish, a resident of Balaghat in Madhya Pradesh, was a divisional committee member and carried a reward of Rs 16 lakh, the police official further informed.
An AK-47 rifle, one SLR (Self-Loading Rifle), one INSAS rifle, one .12 bore rifle, explosives and items of daily use were recovered from the encounter site, he said.
So far this year, bodies of 157 Naxalites have been recovered following encounters in Bastar division which comprises the districts of Kanker, Kondagaon, Narayanpur, Bastar, Bijapur, Dantewada and Sukma, the IG said.
During the same period, 663 Naxalites were arrested and 656 surrendered before police, he said. Two more Naxalites were killed this year in the state’s Dhamtari district which falls in Raipur division.
Also, earlier on Tuesday, two Naxalites were killed in Sukma district, but their colleagues managed to take away their bodies, police claimed. PTI TKP KRK
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