Maharashtra Police said in a statement that four Naxalites were killed in an eight-hour encounter on the Gadchiroli-Narayanpur border on Wednesday. SP Neelotpal of Gadchiroli said, “The bodies of four Maoists (1 male and 3 women) have been recovered after intermittent firing in the Koparshi forest area on the Gadchiroli-Narayanpur border for about eight hours.” Four weapons – 1 SLR rifle, 2 INSAS rifles and 1.303 rifles were recovered. Further search operations continue in the area.
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Encounter between police and Naxalites
The incident took place after an encounter between police and Naxalites on Wednesday morning near the Chhattisgarh border in Gadchiroli district of eastern Maharashtra. Officials said that on receiving information about the presence of Naxalites, the C-60 commando team of Gadchiroli Police started a search operation in Koprashi village.
29 Naxalites surrendered to security forces in Dantewada
Police officials said that on August 20, 29 Naxalites, a prize of Rs 55.50 lakh in Dantewada and Narayanpur districts of Chhattisgarh, surrendered to the security forces on Wednesday. He said that 21 of these Naxalites surrendered in Dantewada and eight in Narayanpur. A senior official said that 21 leftist militants in Dantewada district, 13 of which were collectively rewarded Rs 25.50 lakh, surrendered to the security personnel. He said that he is disappointed with the “inhuman and hollow” Maoist ideology.
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Naxalites were affected by police rehabilitation campaign
He said that the Naxalites who surrendered said that they are affected by the police’s rehabilitation campaign ‘Lone Vratu’ (a word in Gondi Boli which means ‘return to their home/village’) and the new surrender and rehabilitation policy of the state government. He said that out of these 21 Naxalites, Kay alias Kesha Lakem was a member of the banned organization No.1 of the CPI (Maoist) and a reward of Rs 8 lakh on his head. The official said that 12 of the Naxalites surrendering, 12 Naxalites were working in various positions in the Maoist organization. Six of these had a reward of Rs 2-2 lakh, Rs 1-1 lakh on five and Rs 50,000 on one Naxalite.