Several Maoists killed in Chhattisgarh
By IANSTuesday, January 19, 2010
RAIPUR - The Chhattisgarh police Tuesday claimed they had killed several Maoist ultras in a fierce gun battle in a forested pocket of Bijapur district. The cops, however, failed to recover their bodies.
“A contingent of District Force (DF) and Special Police Officers (SPOs) exchanged heavy gun fire with Maoist ultras in a thickly forested area. Several Maoists were killed but no body was recovered as the other ultras dragged the bodies deep into the forests,” Avinash Mohanty, superintendent of police, told IANS.
He said: “The casualty figure of ultras may be up to 12. We arrested two rebels as well but lost a Special Police Officer (SPO) in the battle while two other SPOs received gunshots and were rushed to government hospital.”
He said some explosives were also recovered from the encounter site, which is located some 500 km south of capital Raipur and comes under 40,000 sq km restive Bastar region that has witnessed over 1,500 casualties in Maoist violence since 2004.
