RAIPUR, Sep 22: Two top Maoist leaders carrying a bounty of Rs 40 lakh each in Chhattisgarh were killed in an encounter with security personnel in the state’s Narayanpur district on Monday, police officials said.
The two have been identified Raju Dada alias Katta Ramachandra Reddy (63) and Kosa Dada alias Kadari Satyanarayana Reddy (67), both Central Committee members of the outlawed Communist Party of India (Maoists), they said.
The operation garnered praise from Union Home Minister Amit Shah who called it a “major victory” for security forces.Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai hailed it as a decisive achievement in Chhattisgarh’s fight against Naxalism.
The gun battle broke out this morning in the forest of Abhujmaad, adjoining Maharashtra, when security forces were out on a search operation based on inputs about the movement of senior cadres in the region, Narayanpur Superintendent of Police Robinson Guria said.
Intermittent exchange of fire continued for several hours before the bodies of two male cadres were recovered from the spot, he said.From the encounter site, forces recovered one AK-47 rifle, one INSAS rifle, one BGL (barrel grenade launcher), a huge cache of explosives, Maoist literature, and other daily-use materials, he said.
Raju Dada alias Katta Ramachandra Reddy and Kosa Dada alias Kadari Satyanarayana Reddy were natives of Karimnagar in Telangana active in ‘Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee’ of the outlawed movement (which handles Maoist activities in Bastar region) for over three decades, he said.
They masterminded several violent incidents in Bastar, which claimed the lives of security personnel and civilians, the SP said. (PTI)
