Naxal encounter in Maharashtra-Chhattisgarh border: Police recovers explosives, Maoist literature

Gadchiroli: A team of Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh police on Wednesday, recovered explosives, Maoist literature, and other materials, following an exchange of fire with Naxalites along the border of both states, an official said on Thursday.

“Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli police had received intelligence inputs on August 15 night about the presence of a Naxalite camp of Sandra Local Organisation Squad (LOS) and other such formations in north of Bhopalpatnam in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur district along the border of the two states,” Gadchiroli Superintendent of Police Nilotpal said.

The information was immediately shared with the Bijapur’s Superintendent of Police and after discussions, a joint team headed by Additional SP Satish Deshmukh with nine C-60 parties comprising around 200 commandos and also comprising of Bijapur Deputy SP and 70 District Reserve Guard (DRG) commandos were formed for the combing operation, he added.

C-60 is a specialised combat unit of the Gadchiroli police to tackle the Naxal menace in the district, while the DRG is a unit formed to combat Maoist activities in Chhattisgarh.

“While the joint team was combing the area late Wednesday, Naxalites opened indiscriminate firing on the police, who retaliated. After the exchange of fire ended, a search was carried out in the area in which detonators, gelatin sticks, a large amount of Naxal literature, one mobile phone, four ‘pitthus’ (shoulder bags), tarpaulin sheets, and other items were seized,” the official said.

After the operation, the joint team returned to its camp safely. The process of registering an offence is underway at Bhopalpatnam in Bijapur, he added.

With inputs from PTI