india

Updated: Feb 18, 2020 07:04 IST

A Maoist was gunned down during a gun battle between the left-wing extremists and an elite anti-Maoist wing of Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli Police in a jungle bordering Abujhmad region of Chhattisgarh on Monday morning.

According to reports reaching the divisional headquarters in Nagpur, troopers of C-60 cordoned off the area of Podewada jungle where the Maoists were holding a meeting under the leadership of politburo member M Venugopal Rao alias Bhupathi.

When the Maoists realised they were trapped, they challenged the security personnel by opening fire.

The C-60 personnel immediately retaliated and a gun-battle ensued. The encounter between the militants and the security forces continued for at least one hour.

The Maoists fled deep into the jungles after failing to counter the security force’s action.

However, one militant was killed in the firing and is yet to be identified. Police suspect that at least four to five rebels were injured in the encounter but succeeded in fleeing along with others.

Shailesh Balkawade, superintendent of police of Gadchiroli, said the police have seized a huge cache of arms, including AK-47 rifle and ammunition, and Maoist literature from the spot.

A search operation has also been launched in the area to flush out the rebels, he said.

Bhupathi, who was holding the meeting there, is a very senior leader of CPI (Maoist). He is one of the politburo members of the banned outfit while he served as secretary of Gadchiroli division, secretary of Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee and a member of the central committee of the CPI (Maoist).

He is the younger brother of CPI (Maoist) politburo member M Koteswara Rao alias Kishenji, who was killed in West Bengal in 2011 by security forces.