At least 10 Maoists were killed in an encounter with the police in the restive Narayanpur district of South Chhattisgarh on Tuesday, police have claimed.
“An encounter took place between the Maoists and a police team near Kilam Becha village early this morning. Two companies of Maoists attacked our team and the encounter lasted about two-and-a-half hours,” Narayanpur district Superintendent of Police (SP) Abhishek Meena told The Hindu. “Our estimate is that 10 to 12 Maoists were killed, but we have not been able to recover the bodies as three of our men were injured in the encounter and the priority was to save their lives.”
Mr. Meena said he could not say with certainty how many Maoists were killed. “Certainly many were killed. We are saying 10 to 12 based on some Maoist communications we tracked. Of the three injured policemen, one was extremely critical and our team was trying to provide him medical help. Meanwhile, the Maoists managed to drag the bodies inside the forest. There were many blood marks at the spot of the encounter, but we did not follow them as there was the danger of being ambushed.”
