Eight Naxalites were killed in an encounter with security forces in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district on Saturday. The gunfight broke out in the forest when District Reserve Guard and Special Task Force of the state police along with Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and CoBRA (Commando Battalion for Resolute Action) were out on an anti-Naxalite operation. An Insas rifle and a barrel grenade launcher (BGL) were among the weapons recovered from the encounter site. This brings the total number of Naxalites killed in separate encounters in the state this year to 50.
Forty-two more firearms and cartridges have been surrendered by the public in five districts of ethnic strife-torn Manipur, police said. The surrender comes after Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla urged warring groups to voluntarily surrender weapons robbed from security forces and other illegally held firearms within seven days. The deadline was later extended till March 6. The surrender of firearms follows months of ethnic violence between Meiteis and Kuki-Zo groups that has resulted in the deaths of over 250 people and left thousands homeless.
According to a senior officer, during the two-week deadline for surrender of arms and ammunition, a total of 990 arms were surrendered with 11,526 ammunition.
The 31 ultras killed in the February 9 encounter in Bijapur in Chhattisgarh included the mastermind of the January 6 IED blast in which eight security personnel and a civilian lost their lives and several other deadly attacks, a police official said. Among the 31 ultras killed in the encounter was Hunga Karma, who was secretary of the west Bastar division of the outlawed Communist Party of India (Maoist) and carried a reward of Rs 8 lakh on his head. He was the mastermind of the January 6 attack on security personnel. Karma also masterminded the 2006 Murkinar camp attack in which 11 police personnel were killed as well as the 2007 Ranibodli camp attack in which 55 security personnel were killed. Of the 31 killed ultras, 28, including 17 men and 11 women, have been identified and they carried a cumulative reward of Rs 1.10 crore on their heads. Out of the 81 Naxalites gunned down in the state so far this year, 65 were killed in the Bastar division, which comprises Bijapur and six other districts. So far this year, 77 firearms, including two AK-47 rifles, five Self Loading Rifles (SLR) and two INSAS rifles and three.303 rifles, have been recovered following separate encounters in Bastar region, the IG informed.
The soldiers have come out with innovative ways to reduce overall length and weight of the existing weapons so as to lessen fatigue and enhance accuracy, besides enabling them to fire corner shots.
A cache of weapons, including an AK-47 rifle, one SLR (self-loading rifle), one INSAS rifle, one LMG rifle and one .303 rifle were also recovered from the encounter spot.
In one of the deadliest blows to Naxalites in Chhattisgarh, security forces on Sunday gunned down 31 rebels, including 11 women, in a fierce encounter in the state's Bijapur district, police said.
Earlier on Monday, two women Naxalites were killed and one CoBRA jawan was injured in an encounter during the same operation, they said.
The incident took place in Mughal Sarai-Buxar Passenger train 63240.
Ten Naxalites were killed in an encounter with security personnel in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district on Friday, a senior police official said. The gunfight broke out in the morning in a forest within the jurisdiction of the Bhejji police station when a joint team of security personnel was out on an anti-Naxalite operation. The operation was launched based on inputs about the presence of Maoists belonging to Konta and Kistaram area committees of Naxalites on forested hills of Korajguda, Dantespuram, Nagaram and Bhandarpadar villages. Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai hailed security forces and said the era of peace and progress has returned to the Bastar region, which includes Sukma.
One of the slain Maoists was identified as DVCM Laxman Atram alias Vishal Atram, incharge of Tipagad Dalam.
With this, the number of Maoists killed in the gun battle with the security personnel on Friday has risen to 31, they said, adding that a search operation is still underway in the area.
The Delhi Police on Thursday claimed to have busted an Al Qaeda terror module after arresting of 11 people and detaining three others from Jharkhand, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.
Two Central Reserve Police Force personnel also sustained injuries during the heavy exchange of fire that happened at Jakurador Karong in the Borobekra sub-division, they said.
As many as 14 Maoists were killed in an encounter with security personnel in Chhattisgarh's Bastar region on Friday, a senior police official said. However, ANI has put the toll at 30.
In the year 2004-05, 1,000 5.56-mm rifles and 500 9-mm carbines will be procured at a cost of Rs 3.72 crore, Minister of State for Railways R Velu said.
Due to the success of the operation, the entire Korchi-Tipagad and Chatgaon-Kasansur Dalams of Maoists have been wiped out, they claimed.
Militants snatched an automatic rifle along with a magazine from a cop and decamped with it in south Kashmir Pulwama town on Tuesday afternoon.
Nine Naxalites, including three women, were killed in an encounter with security personnel in a forest along the border of Narayanpur and Kanker districts in Chhattisgarh on Tuesday, state's Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sharma said.
"Give up arms and come for talks or our forces will hunt you down," the home minister said in election rallies in Jammu and Kashmir.
Eight Naxalites and a jawan of the Special Task Force (STF) were killed in an encounter in Chhattisgarh's Narayanpur district on Saturday, police said.
Security forces columns, which were immediately deployed in these "vacant" villages, responded cautiously to avoid any collateral damage.
The Army jawans were killed in their sleep in the firing which took place in their barracks early Wednesday morning.
The Punjab police, which is investigating the matter along with their military counterparts, said according to the information gathered so far, the incident was not a terrorist act. The four personnel, in their mid 20s, were sleeping when the firing took place around 4.30 am near the barracks behind a mess.
Four soldiers were killed in their sleep in firing inside the military station in Bathinda on April 12.
In violence-hit Manipur, the general buzz associated with elections and the related paraphernalia of posters, banners and rallies are missing but it is the presence of these brown boxes with pictures of guns that is symbolic of the strife-ridden society struggling to return to normalcy.
The police on Saturday claimed to have gunned down eight Maoists during an encounter in forests near Kutul-Farasbeda and Kodtameta villages in the district.
Police said a hunt for assailants behind Wednesday morning's firing incident at the station is underway.
A 23-year-old man was on Thursday charged with the murder of Indian student Tejaswini Kontham and the attempted murder of her friend at a residential address in Wembley, north London.
Officials added that one INSAS light machine gun was recovered by the forces during initial search.
The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act or AFSPA was extended by another six months in Manipur on Wednesday barring 19 police stations falling under the Imphal valley and an area that shares its boundary with neighbouring Assam.
In the 10 years since Yudh Abhyas began, the exercise has grown from platoon-level operations to brigade-and battalion-level operations.
At least 25 miscreants with arms, ammunition and grenades have been rounded up by Indian Army and paramilitary forces across ethnic-strife riven Manipur, officials said on Monday.
A CCTV captured video of head constable Satish Prasad, allegedly abusing the woman donning his combat uniform and carrying an INSAS rifle, was also shared widely over social media.
Terrorists belonging to banned groups United National Liberation Front (UNLF) and People's Liberation Army (PLA) were allegedly part of the mob from which gunshots were fired at an army officer that left him severely injured in Manipur, officials said Monday.
Three security personnel suffered injuries in the fierce gun-battle and a large quantity of weapons was also recovered from the spot, the state police said.
The security agencies have been warning that militants belonging to United National Liberation Front, People's Liberation Army and other banned groups had become part of the mobs and carrying out sneak attacks on security forces as well as giving directions to the agitators.
The Manipur Police personnel allegedly drove the two women from the Kuki-Zomi community, who had sought refuge in their official Gypsy, to a mob of around 1,000 Meiti rioters in Kangpokpi district, the Central Bureau of Investigation chargesheet has said.
Quoting data collected from various sources, officials closely monitoring the situation here said that .303 rifles, Medium Machine Guns (MMG) and AK assault rifles, carbines, Insas Light Machine Guns (LMG), Insas rifles, M-16 and MP5 rifles were reported to be missing from the armouries of the police in May.
A special court in Manipur on Friday granted bail to the five village defence volunteers who were arrested by the police for possessing weapons amid an agitation for their release, officials said.
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