Two Maoists killed in Chhattisgarh encounter

Raipur: At least two Maoists were killed by security forces on Thursday following a major gun-battle in Chhattisgarh's insurgency-hit Sukma district. "The operation was launched collectively by CRPF's elite Commando Battalion for Resolute Action's (CoBRA) 208 battalion and two teams of state's District Reserve Group (DRG) under Bhejji Police Station limits," Bastar Range IGP SRP Kalluri said.

The operation was based on the information about the location of Maoist commander Hidma, who is the head of 1st military battalion of Naxals, in the region. "We received inputs that Hidma had arrived to take part in a marriage ceremony of a close cadre in Dubbakonta village," he said.

When security forces reached near Dubbakonta - a Maoist hotbed - early on Thursday morning, a group of armed insurgents opened indiscriminate fire on them, triggering a gun-battle between the two sides, the IG said. "So far, two bodies of Maoists in 'uniform', besides a muzzle loading gun, Insas rifle magazines and Maoist articles have been recovered," he said.

However, police are yet to trace Hidma, he said. Hidma was allegedly involved in the 2013 Jiram valley Naxal attack in Bastar's Darbha region in which 31 people, including some senior state Congress leaders, were killed and the 2010 Chintalnar ambush in Dantewada in which 76 troopers were killed.