Forces engage Reds in Sukma encounter

Forces engaged Maoists in an encounter in Sukma and claimed to have shot dead two of them but no bodies were recovered. Preliminary information indicated the cadres were from Maoist commanders Hidma and Deva's teams.

This is the second gunfight in two days in Bastar. On Monday, forces killed three Maoists, including a woman, in Abujhmarh forests in Narayanpur and recovered an AK-47.

The same evening, a team of security forces set out for Chintalnar and Mukram camps, 450 km from Raipur, after being tipped off about presence of 40-50 Maoists in forests of Chintalnar on the banks of river Chintavagu.

The first encounter broke out in Karkanguda jungle. Sporadic gunfights continued on the hills and forest close to the river all night.

It wasn't until noon that the Maoist guns fell silent. A cop said there's information of at least two Maoist deaths though other cadres managed to row away with the bodies on the flooded Chintavagu river.

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