Nine Maoists killed in Dantewada encounter

Raipur : At least 9 Maoists were killed in a fierce encounter with the security forces in insurgency afflicted Chhattisgarh’s Dantewada district on Tuesday.

Official sources said the gun battle started between the rebels and an anti-insurgent squad of combined security force after the latter came under heavy firing during a combing operation in the dense forest of Jagargunda early in the morning.

The anti-insurgecy squad went there on a specific information about a hideout of the outlaws.

Superintendent of Police, Dantewada, SRP Kalluri said they have found nine bullet riddled bodies.

Many arms and ammunition were recovered from the encounter spot.

This is one of the heaviest casualties the left ultras have suffered in one single encounter.

Kalluri said details of the operation were awaited.

Dantewada had been a Maoist hotbed for long.

It headlines several times, especially after the ultras killed 75 CRPF jawans and Chhattisgarh policemen in a deadly ambush in April.