8 Maoists killed by elite forces in Chhattisgarh

     Jagdalpur, March 1, 2016: In a fierce gun battle, elite commandos today shot dead at least eight Maoists in Sukma district of Chhattisgarh, Police said.

     “Elite Greyhound forces today killed at least eight Maoists in Sakler forest,” Additional District Police Chief Santosh Singh told ChhattisgarhTopNews by phone.

     Greyhound forces were created two decades ago by then Andhra Pradesh government to specifically combat Maoist.

     “It was a fierce encounter,” said Singh.

     The bun-battle took place in Sakler jungle under Kistaram Police station of Sukma district.

     “On specific intelligence input of the presence of some top Maoists commanders in the Sakler area, Greyhound and other security forces launched the operation,” said Singh.

     “Among the killed are five female and three male Maoists,” he said adding there was no casualty from the government forces side.

     “Six sophisticated assault weapons, including one AK-47, One SLR (Self Loaded Rifle), three INSAS (Indian Small Arms System) have also been recovered by the forces,” the Police officer said.

     “Looking into the recovery of sophisticated weapons we are suspecting some top Maoist commanders have also been killed in the encounter,” Singh said.

     “There are also reports that top most Maoist commander of Telengana state Haribhushan (one name) was also present in that area,” he said.

     “Only after identification of the bodies, I can say Telengana State Committee Secretary of CPI (Maoist) Haribhushan was killed or not in that encounter,” said the police officer replying to a question.