Security forces in a search operation launched in the Maoist-infested Sukma district of Chhattisgarh neutralised a cadre of the outlawed CPI Maoist on Saturday, February 24, according to police.
According to the details received, an exchange of fire broke out between the extremists and the personnel of District Reserve Guard (DRG) who were out on a search operation in the Barkalanka forest area of Sukma district.
Following the encounter, the body of a male Maoist was recovered from the spot by DRG personnel, as informed, Superintendent of Police (SP), Sukma Kiran Chauhan. It’s been reported that the identity of the Maoists killed in the encounter is yet to be ascertained, while a search operation in the vicinity has been launched further.
The encounter took place hours after the extremists, in a brutal display of violence against unarmed civilians, killed two villagers of Kayar Duled village near the Chhattisgarh-Odisha interstate border on Thursday, February 22.
According to the reports, the extremists took along Sodi Hunga and Madhavi Nanda, both residents of Duled village in the nearby forest area, and then hacked them to death on suspicion of passing sensitive information to the police. The Ultras, after the murders, while claiming responsibility for the attack, disclosed that the incident was carried out by the Pamed Area Committee of the outlawed CPI Maoist.
Maoist kill another civilian in Jharkhand
In another development, armed cadres of the outlawed outfit also killed a civilian in Bandabeda village under Tonto block of the insurgency-hit West Singhbhum of Jharkhand on Friday evening, Ferbruary 23, according to reports.
The deceased has been identified as Jiten Laguri, an ordinary medical practitioner who was shot dead by the Maoists at former’s residence in Bandabeda. It’s been learned that the Maoists carried out the act on suspicion of Jiten working as an informer of the police.
It is to be noted that this is not the first time that such incidents have emerged from insurgency dominant regions, and such incidents have been coming to the fore from these regions at regular intervals.
Notably, earlier in a similar incident, the extremists also killed a former companion on suspicion of him being a police informer in January this year. The incident occurred in the Saranda forest area when Nelson Bhengara, a former companion of the outlaws was forcibly taken to nearby field by the extremist when the former was heading towards his work place.
It had come to the fore that the extremists assaulted Bhengara black and blue before shooting him three times from close range. The insurgents had also left pamphlets on the spot, accusing Bhengara of passing information to the police.
Bhengara was active in the Maoist outfit till last year and was nabbed by the security forces during an operation in neighbouring Odisha in May 2023. He was released from jail only a couple of months ago, following which he started working as a night guard at a private firm.
In another such incident, a former vice village head was also killed by the extremists in West Singhbhum district itself in December last year. The incident had occurred in the Gudri area of Chaibasa, and the deceased was identified as Kamal Purti. It was then reported that the extremists had also left a leaflet near the body of the deceased, in which they alleged Purti to be a police informant.
Earlier, in another incident of similar nature reported from Dauna village under the Netarhat police station in Latehar in Jharkhand, armed cadres of the banned Maoist outfit barged into the house of Deva Prajapati (45) and mercilessly beat him to death after alleging him of being a police informer in July last year. Prajapati was working as a daily wage trekker at Palamu Tiger Reserve on a contractual basis. His work involved patrolling the forest region of Bareysanar range.
