Two female Naxalites with a combined reward of ₹6 lakh on their heads were gunned down in an encounter with security forces in Chhattisgarh’s Narayanpur district, police said on Thursday.
The gunfight broke out late on Wednesday night in the dense forest of the Abhujmaad region, within the Kohkameta police station limits, during an anti-Maoist operation. The offensive was launched based on intelligence inputs about the presence of senior cadres from the Maoists’ Maad division, according to Inspector General of Police (Bastar Range), Sundarraj P.
The joint operation involved personnel from the District Reserve Guard (DRG) of Narayanpur and Kondagaon districts, the Special Task Force (STF), and the 41st and 45th battalions of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP).
“The bodies of two female Naxalites were recovered from the site on Thursday morning,” the IG added.
The deceased have been identified as Seema, a member of the Maoists’ Kutul Area Committee, and Linge, alias Ranjhu, who was part of the local organisation squad. Both hailed from the Sukma district. Seema carried a reward of ₹5 lakh, while Linge had a bounty of ₹1 lakh.
Authorities are gathering detailed information about their roles in the Maoist hierarchy and the criminal cases registered against them.
Security personnel also recovered an INSAS rifle with eight rounds and a magazine, a locally manufactured .315 bore rifle with four rounds, 15 rounds of .303 calibre ammunition, a cache of explosives, Maoist literature, and various daily-use items from the site.
“Security forces remain fully committed to continuing anti-Naxalite operations even during the monsoon,” said Sundarraj, urging leaders of the outlawed CPI (Maoist) to surrender and abandon violence, warning they would otherwise face firm action.
With this operation, the number of Naxalites killed in Chhattisgarh so far this year has risen to 214. Of these, 197 were neutralised in the Bastar division, which includes the districts of Bijapur, Bastar, Kanker, Kondagaon, Narayanpur, Sukma and Dantewada.
Anti-Maoist operations in Chhattisgarh have intensified since the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) returned to power in the 2023 Assembly elections. More than 420 Maoist cadres, including senior leaders, have been killed in separate encounters during this period.
Security forces achieved a breakthrough on 21 May when they eliminated Nambala Keshav Rao, alias Basavaraju, the 70-year-old general secretary of the banned CPI (Maoist), in the Bastar region.
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