Maoist carrying Rs 1 lakh bounty killed in Sukma; other held in Kanker

RAIPUR: In an encounter with police on Thursday, a Maoist carrying cash reward of Rs1 lakh on his head was killed in Sukma district , while another was held from Kanker.


Police said that, based on a tip-off about presence of Maoists in Murliguda and Atkal villages, a team of District Reserve Guard (DRG) was out on anti-Maoist operation.

It was around noon when jawans reached Atkal village, an encounter broke out between Maoists and security personnel in forests of Konta.

Maoists had opened indiscriminate fire upon them that led to gunfight. The encounter went on for half an hour and rebels retreated into the jungles. Security forces recovered a body of an ultra from the encounter spot along with a muzzle loading gun and a bag containing medicines and surgical items.

The deceased Maoist was identified as Vanjam Budhu, in-charge of Nilamadgu Rural Party Committee (RPC) of Maoists, who was carrying a reward of Rs1 lakh on his head, police said. He was involved in a lot of cases including murder , torching of vehicles, attacking police forces and extortion of money from contractors.

In another development, a hard-core Maoist, carrying cash reward of Rs8 lakh, was arrested from Chhattisgarhs Kanker district on Thursday, DIG anti-Maoist operation P Sundarraj said here.

He was identified as Muiwa alias Gaganna alias Dokra, a member of the Mainpur-Nuwapada Divisional Committee of Maoists, was nabbed by a team of the state police's Special Intelligence Branch (SIB) from the forests of Rawas and Amapani villages.

On June 18, Dokras’ wife Seema, a Sitanadi Divisional Committee member and secretary of the Sitanadi Area Committee of Maoist, was killed in an encounter with Special Task Force (STF) personnel in the Borai area of Dhamtari district.

Since the encounter their Maoist group had dispersed and its cadres had been roaming in different areas, the IPS officer said.

Meanwhile, the SIB got a tip-off about the location of Dokra in Kanker and nabbed him, Sundarraj added. Dokra, a native of Baswapur village in Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra, was allegedly involved in several incidents of murder, loot and torching of vehicles in Gariaband and Dhamtari districts of Chhattisgarh bordering Odisha, he said. The captured Maoist, who was carrying a reward of Rs8 lakh on his head, had been associated with the outlawed CPI (Maoist) since the past 30 years, the DIG said.

For the last 10 years, Dokra was involved in violent activities in Gobra, Chhotegobra, Chandanbahra, Bhaisamuda, Matiyabahra, Chargaon, Pandripani, Pendra, Ghoragaon and other villages of Dhamtari and Gariaband districts, located around 80 and 90km away from state capital Raipur , respectively, he added.