200 C-60 commandos bust maoist camp in Gadchiroli; recover automatic weapon, rifle and naxal literature

Based on the intelligence inputs received, an operation was launched on Sunday evening with 200 C-60 commandos led by M Ramesh, Additional Superintendent of Police, Administration. C-60 is a special commando unit of the Maharashtra Police formed to deal with Maoists.

On Monday morning, as they were carrying out a search of the area, Maoist formations fired indiscriminately at the commandos, which led the force to retaliate strongly, the official said. The exchange of fire with Maoists happened intermittently at three different locations over a period of two hours.

Eventually, the Maoists fled and the commando team searched the post, leading to the recovery of an INSAS automatic weapon and a single-shot rifle, one magazine, several live rounds, detonators, and a large amount of Naxal literature and other paraphernalia.

An official said the C-60 commandos destroyed the Maoists’ camp completely, adding that they have not ruled out the chances that Maoists who got injured or killed during the forces’ retaliation may have been dragged away by others.

This comes right after a massive anti-insurgency operation involving 28,000 troops and the Indian Air Force (IAF) was called off in Karegutta hills on the Chhattisgarh-Telangana border. The operation, launched to help locate the top leadership of the Communist Party of India (Maoist), was stopped 20 days after it began.

On May 8, three junior commandos of the Greyhounds, Telangana’s anti-Maoist task force, were killed in a landmine blast triggered by Maoists at the Telangana-Chhattisgarh border area, top Telangana police officers said.