Chhattisgarh: Maoist gunned down in an encounter in Bijapur

Bijapur: Security forces in a counter-insurgency operation launched on July 22 have managed to neutralise an armed cadre of the People’s Liberation Guerilla Army (PLGA), the armed wing of the outlawed Communist Party of India (Maoist) in insurgency-hit Bijapur of Chhattisgarh.

The development occurred when a joint team of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Bastar fighters and District Reserve Guard (DRG) were out on a combing operation in Potenar and Keshamundi forest regions under Bhairamgarh police station limits where an encounter broke out between the forces and the Maoist in the forest of Keshmundi.

As per the reports, sensing the upper hand of the forces in the exchange of fire that lasted for around half an hour, the Ultras (around 12-14 in number) fledged the spot leaving behind one of his fellow men. After the gunfight stopped, security forces recovered the body of an unknown male member of the banned CPI (Maoist). It’s been learnt that the deceased’s identity is yet to be ascertained.

The security forces also recovered a pistol, live cartridges, codex wires, guillotine sticks, fuse, Maoist uniform and communist extremist literature from the possession of the deceased.

Two wanted active cadres of the CPI Maoist held by NIA

In another major development on the Maoist front, a team of the National Investigative Agency (NIA) arrested two senior active cadres, including the wife of the former Central Committee (CC) member of the proscribed CPI Maoist from Andhra Pradesh on Friday, July 21.

The arrested Maoist cadre have been identified as Kandalu Sirisha, wife of the former CC member of the banned CPI Maoist, Akkiraju Hargopal alias RK and Duddu Prabhakar, who the NIA nabbed in connection with the July 2019 Tiriya encounter.

As per the information received the duo were active in expanding the network of the outlawed Maoist outfit while working with the frontal organisations of the CPI Maoist. They also frequently used to visit the core Maoist belt near the Andhra-Odisha border junction to meet CC member RK, prior to his death in October 2021.

As per NIA, Sirisha had also worked as an armed cadre of the PLGA and was in charge of the technical unit of the outlawed outfit before moving into the frontal organisation.

Let us tell you that the accused were wanted in connection with the Tiriya encounter that took place in July 2019 in Jagadalapur of Chhattisgarh, where six Maoist, along with a civilian, was killed after an exchange of fire between the forces and the Maoist.

After the gunfight, the security forces also recovered a huge quantity of arms and ammunition alongside seizing several handwritten documents from the spot, following which a case under various sections of the Arms Act and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act was registered by the police. The documents seized from the spot revealed that the Maoist were planning to carry out a big attack in the last week of July 2019.

The case, which is also referred to as the RK Dairy case, was re-registered by the NIA in March 2021, following which the central agency also raided the house of Sirisha and Prabhakar and seized incriminating materials related to the activities of the CPI Maoist.