2 women Naxals killed in encounter with police in Chattisgarh

Two women Naxals were today gunned down in a fierce encounter with police at a forest in Chhattisgarh's Narayanpur district, an official said.

The skirmish took place this morning in the forest near Hasnar village when a joint team of the Special Task Force (STF) and District Reserve Group (DRG) was out on an anti-Maoist operation, Narayanpur Superintendent of Police Santosh Singh told PTI."Two women Naxals were killed in the incident," he said.

The squad had earlier launched the operation in the restive Abhujmad area, considered as a Maoist den, located around 300 kms from here, he said.When the patrolling team was cordoning off a forest patch near Hasnar, the security men spotted a Maoist camp and started encircling the area, he said.

On sensing the presence of the



security personnel, the rebels started firing indiscriminately on them leading to the gunbattle, he said.

The encounter lasted for about one hour following which the ultras fled into the forest, the SP said.Later during a search, the bodies of two women Maoists clad in 'uniform' were found at the spot.

The police also recovered two .315 bore guns, some explosives, Maoists uniforms, their literatures and several other items from the site, Singh said.

Further details are awaited as the operation is still underway in the region, he said.

Earlier, three Naxals, including two women, were killed in an encounter with police in Rajnandgaon district on June 18 while a Maoist deputy commander was gunned down on June 19 in Kanker district.