india

Updated: Mar 02, 2018 15:31 IST

Ten Maoists and a constable of elite commando force Greyhounds were killed in an encounter in the forests of Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur district bordering Telangana, the police said on Friday.

Six women were among the rebels killed in the encounter that took place inTadapalagutta- Pujari Kanker forest areas, about eight kilometres from Charla police station limits of Bhadradri Kothagudem district of Telangana, around 6 am when a joint team of the Telangana and Chhattisgarh police launched an operation in the area.

Police are yet to identify the slain Maoists , but unconfirmed reports said Telangana state committee secretary of the Communist Party of India (Maoist) Hari Bhushan alias Jagan and Karimnagar-Khammam-Warangal divisional committee secretary of the outfit Bade Chokka Rao alias Damodar were among those killed.

“The police forces of Telangana and Chhattisgarh while conducting a joint operation in the forest areas ran into a group of Maoists. On seeing the police forces, the Maoists opened fire indiscriminately resulting in the death of one of our (Telangana police’s) Greyhounds constables Sushil Kumar. We returned fire, resulting in the death of 10 Maoists,” Bhadradri Kothagudem superintendent of police Ambar Kishore Jha said.

The police recovered two AK-47 rifles, an SLR and four INSAS rifles from the encounter site.

“The police forces are still there in the forests continuing the combing operation to nab those Maoists who escaped from the spot,” Jha said.

“We are yet to identify the deceased Maoists. The bodies are being brought for post-mortem,” he added.

According to the information reaching Hyderabad, about 150 Maoists were reportedly camping in the area for the last three days.

This is one of the biggest encounters in recent times and is a big jolt to the Maoist party, said a senior police officer.

Maoist ideologue P Vara Vara Rao, however, described the encounter as fake.

“The police had caught the Maoists two days ago and killed them this morning in a cold-blooded manner,” he alleged and demanded judicial inquiry by a sitting high court judge into the incident.