As many as 22 teams of C-60 commandos and two squads of the Central Reserve Police Force under the supervision of senior officials launched an anti-Naxal operation from two different points in the forest area, said the release.
Pankaja Munde of the BJP -- Dhananjay Munde's cousin -- has been made the guardian minister of Jalna district.
Chhattisgarh Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sharma has reiterated the state government's willingness to engage in unconditional peace talks with Naxalites, following a statement by the Maoist group outlining preconditions for a ceasefire. Sharma, who holds the home portfolio, stated that the government has already made its stance on unconditional talks clear and has implemented a surrender and rehabilitation policy for Naxal cadres. He criticized the Maoists' demands as unreasonable and emphasized the importance of ending violence and joining the national mainstream. Sharma also called on the Naxalites to send a representative if they are serious about peace talks, but ruled out the formation of a separate committee for negotiations. The Maoist statement, released in Telugu, highlighted the group's concerns regarding intensified counter-insurgency operations and alleged human rights violations. They appealed for a positive atmosphere for peace talks, calling for a halt to anti-Naxal operations and the establishment of new security camps.
One of the slain Maoists was identified as DVCM Laxman Atram alias Vishal Atram, incharge of Tipagad Dalam.
'Many of them are mutilated beyond recognition. Every day an encounter takes place.' 'Bastar has been burnt to ash.'
There were no immediate reports of any casualties or major damage to properties.
Due to the success of the operation, the entire Korchi-Tipagad and Chatgaon-Kasansur Dalams of Maoists have been wiped out, they claimed.
Pawar tried to discourage party leader and state minister Dharmarao Baba Aatram's daughter Bhagyashri from crossing over to the Sharad Pawar-led NCP-SP.
The skirmish took place around 5.30 am in the forest at Kotmi in Etapalli, where the Naxals had gathered for a meeting, said Sandeep Patil, Deputy Inspector General of Gadchiroli.
More than two decades after deserting their village due to Maoists, around 25 tribal families are planning to return to their native place in Chhattisgarh's Narayanpur district.
The final turnout in the Maharashtra assembly polls was 66.05 percent, up from 61.1 percent in 2019, according to the Election Commission. The polling percentage for the Nanded Lok Sabha bypoll was 67.81 percent. The increase, excluding postal ballots, highlighted the EC's efforts to engage a broader electorate, the statement added. Kolhapur led with 76.63 per cent, followed by 75.26 per cent in Gadchiroli, while the lowest was in Mumbai island city at 52.07 per cent and 55.95 per cent in the metropolis' suburban district. More than 68,000 citizens aged over 85 and 12,000 individuals with disabilities cast their votes through home voting.
When the fierce encounter ended around 3:30 PM on Saturday after almost 10 hours, senior cadre Milind Teltumbade and 25 ultras had been killed.
Maharashtra Director General of Police Subodh Kumar Jaiswal said that the attack was not a result of intelligence failure.
The gunbattle took place in the morning at Korchi in Mardintola forest area when a C-60 police commando team was conducting a search operation led by additional SP Soumya Munde, Goyal said.
Counting of votes in the Maharashtra assembly elections will begin at 8 am on Saturday, with all eyes on the outcome of the battle between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party-led Mahayuti coalition and the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance, which is seeking to make a comeback.
'The strategy of frontal organisations of the Maoists is to create unrest and ensure that such unrest leads to a law and order problem.' 'To cover such acts it was necessary to bring in a different definition of unlawful activities which is different from the definition of unlawful activities in the UAPA.'
A team of C-60 commandos, a specialised combat unit of the Gadchiroli police, carried out the operation.
The rural hospital at Bhamragadh in the district, bordering Chhattisgarh, is about 14 km from the village.
About 60 naxalites had camped at Kasampalli in south Gadchiroli when two groups of C-60 commmando units of police reached there Wednesday and launched an offensive.
Top Maoist leader Milind Teltumbde was among the 26 Maoists killed in an encounter with police in Maharashtra's Gadchiroli district, a senior police official said on Sunday.
Besides disclosing in their affidavits, candidates have to prominently declare criminal cases they are facing, if any, thrice in newspapers in print as well on television, he said, adding that political parties too have to publish within three days of nomination why a candidate with criminal background was selected. "You (political parties) have to tell the public whether you did not get any (other) candidate and why was it necessary to select them (those with criminal background)," he said.
A deputy sarpanch was stabbed to death allegedly by a group of Naxals in Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra, police said on Tuesday.
'My health is very bad. I can't talk. I will have to first take medical treatment, and then only I will able to speak'
An editorial in the party mouthpiece Saamana said that the Gadchiroli massacre, after the November 26 Mumbai attacks, had once again shown total inefficiency and irresponsible attitude of the state home administration towards the law and order problems affecting both common people and security personnel.
The MVA government had planned to arrest Devendra Fadnavis and when he objected, they planned to arrest him as well, said Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde
"This 'trishul' is like Lord Shiva's third eye which will reduce to ashes those who work against the common man," he added.
Three policemen, including two personnel of Cobra battalion of Central Reserve Police Force were killed on Saturday in a naxal attack in Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra.
As many as 25 Sarpanchs and 135 members of Gram Panchayats from Korchi area of Gadchiroli district, Maharashtra, who had resigned in protest against non-implementation of developmental works and police excesses, on Wednesday withdrew their resignations.
Seven policemen were on Sunday killed and 2 others injured when Naxals carried out a landmine blast in Maharashtra's Gadchiroli district.
A record 70 per cent voter turnout was registered at 12 of the 22 booths in Gadchiroli district where re-polling was conducted on Thursday.The overall percentage of voting, however, dipped to approximately 60 per cent due to the low turnout at polling stations in Aheri assembly segment. Armouri assembly reported 74 per cent turnout while Gadchiroli recorded 72 per cent and Aheri 39. However, not a single voter turned up for voting at Bamanpalli polling station.
Former Delhi University professor G N Saibaba, who was released from the Nagpur Central Jail on Thursday after his acquittal in an alleged Maoist links case, said it's a 'wonder that he could come out alive' despite suffering the 'brutal' jail life.
A Central Reserve Police Force jawan was killed and five other personnel were injured in a gunbattle with Naxals in Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra on Tuesday, police said.
'Every report I filed for Rediff.com on the professor's incarceration, would leave me wondering for days, at the depth of the State's malevolence towards this disabled professor, and his equally deep capacity to tolerate it,' recalls Jyoti Punwani.' 'No country in the world would do what our country was doing to someone so helpless.'
Three police personnel of Gadchiroli police were awarded with the President's Police Medal for Gallantry for their outstanding performance in service.
Acting on a tip-off regarding the Naxal hideout in the forest area, personnel belonging to the CRPF 192 batallion rushed to the site.
More than 24 hours after Maoist rebels mowed down 17 policemen in one of the deadliest attacks in Gadchiroli district, combing operations by the Border Security Force and the state police continued even as people on Friday bade farewell to the martyrs.Hundreds of civilians gathered at the Parade ground in Gadchiroli, in a spontaneous outpouring of grief and respect for the policemen, who laid down their lives in the line of duty combating home-bred Maoist terror.
A police constable and a civilian were killed by a group of Maoists in Jarawandi area of Gadchiroli district, police said on Monday. The constable and the civilian were identified as Chanu Fakira Peala, 29, and Vilas Kombre, 30, they said. The duo was shot by a country-made pistol, they said. They were immediately rushed to a nearby hospital, where they succumbed to their injuries. Further probe is on, added the police.
A group of Naxalites killed two persons and damaged an abandoned police camp in Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra, police said on Saturday.
A group of armed Naxalites allegedly killed a middle-aged former Sarpanch from Gadchiroli district, for being a police informer, police said on Monday.
Acting on a tip-off, commandos of anti-Naxal unit C-60 combed Sindesur forest area in Dhanora taluka and spotted a group of ultras who fired at them, triggering a gun battle at around 11 am
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