Chhattisgarh: Five slain Maoists in Bastar carried Rs 40 lakh bounty, three held from encounter site

RAIPUR: The five Naxalites killed in an encounter in Abujhmarh forests carried Rs 40 lakh bounty, eight lakh each on their head and were identified as members of central committee protection team. Bastar police on Thursday said that three more Naxalites were arrested from the site of encounter, two of whom are injured and under treatment.
However, local villagers alleged that the three arrested were innocent tribals who had gone to forest to pluck fruits when they came under cross firing and got injured with bullets.The villagers said they will intensify the protest in the coming days.
A police statement issued on Thursday stated that the five armed Maoists killed in the encounter on Tuesday are members of PLGA Company number 1, CC protection team.
The encounter took place in Ghamandi forest of Naryanpur district by a joint team of security forces from four districts of Bastar division as part of ‘Monsoon operation prahar’ and ‘Marh Bachao abhiyan’-going on for past four months.
“On June 30, police received information about presence of central committee member (CCM) Sonu, CCM Kosa, divisional committee member (DVCM) Arun, Ranita alias Jaymati, Radhika, Arab, Sukhlal, of company number 1, and others in the Marh area of Narayanpur. We dispatched a team from camps of Kondagaon, NArayanpur, Dantewada and Bastar,” the statement said.
The Naxal bodies recovered carried a bounty of Rs 8 lakh each and were identified as Rakesh, Konda Togda, Edma Wadde, Kamlu Wadde, Farsa Tumda.
During the anti-Naxal operation, the Maoists attempted to harm the security forces with two IED blasts and ambushes but their three cadres were apprehended in stead. Gorra Wadde,
Buddhu Kumda, Kosa were arrested and the former two were injured.
Kanker Deputy Inspector General of Police K L Dhruv, and Superintendent of Police Narayanpur, Prabhat Kumar, stated that after this operation, the Maoists would be on backfoot in Marh division, which they considered a safe haven. Following this operation, the Maoist leadership is blaming the villagers and their lower cadre alleging that they have leaked the inputs. This is the third major strike against the Maoists' attacking forces in the Marh division in past two months.