RAIPUR, Jan 17: Security forces on Saturday gunned down four Naxalites, including senior cadre Dilip Vedja, in an encounter in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur district, police said.
The gunfight broke out in the morning in the forested hills, where a joint team of security forces was out on an anti-Naxal operation.
Personnel belonging to the Special Task Force and District Reserve Guard, both state police units, and CoBRA (Commando Battalion for Resolute Action) — an elite unit of CRPF — were involved in the operation, which was launched based on inputs about the presence of Vedja, a divisional committee member, in the area.
“During the search, the bodies of two Maoists were recovered from the encounter site by noon. Subsequently, bodies of two more Maoist cadres, including a woman, were recovered in the evening,” an official said.
Weapons have also been recovered from the spot, adding that a search operation is underway.One of the neutralised Naxalites has been identified as Dilip Vedja, who was active in the national park area committee of Maoists and had been involved in several attacks. (PTI)
