In a major breakthrough, security forces on Friday gunned down a “top” Naxal leader, suspected to be the commander of Mahasamund-Bargarh div-ision, operating in Chhattisgarh’s eastern region bordering Orissa, in an encounter in a forest in Raigarh district, the police claimed.
“Among other things, an AK 47 was recovered from the deceased ultra, who was in Maoist uniform. Besides, a diary, seized from him, has identified him as DVCM (divisional commander), Ajhade. However, we are yet to identify the body. But the recovery of AK 47 from him clearly indicates that he was a high-ranking Naxal leader”, Chhattisgarh director-general of police Anil M. Navaney, who rushed to the area to take stock of the situation, told mediapersons.
According to him, acting on a tip-off on the presence of a large number of armed Naxals in the Karramal forest in Raigarh district, a strong 130-member Special Task Force (STF) team was constituted to launch search operations in the region.
The team was divided into two groups; one led by Raigarh district superintendent of police (SP) Anand Chabra and the other by a local deputy superintendent of police (DSP).
The search team, led by the SP, was ambushed by around 50 armed rebels at a place in Parviyapalli-Karramal forest area.