C'garh: Woman Naxal killed in encounter with police

A woman Naxal was killed in an encounter with security forces in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district on Tuesday morning, police said.

The skirmish took place around 6 am at a forest near Dabbakonta village when a joint team of security forces was out on a counter-insurgency operation, Deputy Inspector General (anti-Naxal operations) Sundarraj P told PTI.

Personnel belonging to the Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA-an elite unit of CRPF), Special Task Force and District Reserve Guard were involved in the operation, he said.

On spotting a Maoist camp in the forest near Dabbakonta village, located around 500 km from the state capital Raipur, the security men started encircling it.

An exchange of fire then broke out between the two sides and the rebels soon escaped into the dense forest, the DIG said.

Later, during search of the encounter spot, the body of a woman Naxal clad in 'uniform' and an Insas rifle was recovered, he said, adding that the killed rebel was yet to be identified.

"Blood stains were found at the spot, indicating that some more ultras might have been injured or killed in the gun battle," the official said.

Some items of daily use and a huge cache of other Naxal-related material were also seized from their camp, he said, adding that search operation was still underway in the area.