2 women Maoists killed, CoBRA commando injured in Chhattisgarh encounter

Raipur: Two women Maoists were killed in an encounter with security forces in Gariaband district of Chhattisgarh on Monday.

A CoBRA commando also suffered minor injuries in the gunfight.

A joint team of security personnel comprising Chhattisgarh’s District Reserve Guards, CRPF, CoBRA, and Odisha’s Special Operation Group (SOG) launched an anti-Maoist operation, based on specific inputs about the presence of Maoists in the forests of Gariaband.

Police said that an encounter broke out in the forests of the Mainpur region of the district along the borders of Chhattisgarh and neighboring Odisha.

The gunfight began in the morning and intermittent firing continued until evening, with the bodies of two women Maoists recovered from the site. The encounter continued until the filing of this report.

Gariaband SP Nikhil Rakhecha told reporters that a jawan belonging to CoBRA sustained a minor bullet injury and was airlifted to Raipur for treatment, where his condition is stated to be stable.

With the latest killings, Chhattisgarh has recorded a Maoist death toll of 28 this year, while 219 Maoists were killed in separate encounters last year.