10 Naxals killed in Chhattisgarh encounter

Narayanpur/ Raipur: Ten Naxalites, including three women, were killed in an encounter with security forces on the border of Narayanpur and Kanker districts of Chhattisgarh on Tuesday morning, police said. This was a second major blow to the Naxalites within 15 days.

The site of Tuesday's encounter was 30 km south of Kalper village in Kanker where 29 Naxalites were killed in a gunfight with security forces on April 16, said a senior police official.

Deputy Chief Minister and Home Minister Vijay Sharma termed the latest operation as a major success while also appealing to the Naxalites to come forward for talks and give up the path of violence.

As many as 88 Naxalites have been killed so far this year in separate encounters with security forces in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar region, comprising seven districts, including Narayanpur and Kanker. The latest gunfight took place around 6 am on Tuesday in the forest between Tekmeta and Kakur villages in Abhujmad area when a joint team of the District Reserve Guard (DRG) and Special Task Force (STF) was out on an anti-Naxal operation. Abhujmad area is considered as a stronghold of Naxalites. The identity of the killed Naxalites was yet to be ascertained, police said.