In a first, Bastar Fighter jawan killed in encounter, AK-47 recovered

The encounter took place in Hidur forest, over 200 kilometre from Kanker district headquarters. A joint team of Border Security Force (BSF), District Reserve Guards (DRG), and Bastar Fighters had set out on the operation after receiving information about the presence of Maoists near the Narayanpur border in Abujhmad, an unsurveyed land of the size of Goa which is still a rebel stronghold.

Around 6.30 am, the encounter broke out in which Bastar Fighter Ramesh Kureti, 23, was killed. Kureti was a constable and a resident of Sangam village in Pakhanjur tehsil in Kanker district. “The encounter went on for an hour. During search operations we have found the body of a Maoists and an AK-47 rifle and a bullet,” said the additional superintendent of police of Kanker district, Avinash Thakur.

The police said the deceased Maoist was dressed in the uniform of the People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) formed by the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist). A case in this regard is being registered at the Chhotebethiya police station.

On February 25, three Maoists were killed in another encounter and the family members of the three said they were not Maoists but ordinary villagers who had gone into the forest to get forest produce. Anti-Maoist operations have been stepped up in the past few months wherein an additional heavy deployment of security personnel has been made in the rebel-affected Bastar region and work is going on to set up new police camps.