Woman Maoist leader with ₹25 lakh bounty shot dead: Chhattisgarh police

A suspected woman Maoist leader was killed in an encounter with security personnel in Chhattisgarh’s Dantewada on Monday, an official said.

Police said that the encounter took place at around 9am in a forest along the border of Dantewada and Bijapur districts.

“A team of security personnel was out on an anti-Maoist operation when the encounter broke. We have recovered a body till now and more search is underway,” said Dantewada superintendent of police Gaurav Rai.

Also Read: 18 Maoists killed, 4 jawans injured in separate encounters in Chhattisgarh

The SP further said that an Insas rifle was also recovered from the spot.

According to officials aware of the development, the deceased woman has been identified as Renuka aka Banu, who had a reward of ₹25 lakh. She was a state zonal committee member and also incharge of the media team.

The operation was still underway, and the copy will be updated whenever more details are received.

The development come two days after at least 18 suspected Maoists were killed, while four jawans were injured in two separate encounters with security forces in Chhattisgarh’s Sukma and Bijapur districts.

In Sukma, 17 Maoists, including 11 female cadres, were killed. Among them was a member of the special zonal committee member (SZCM) of CPI (Maoist).

In Bijapur, one Maoist was kille by security personnel in the Narsapur jungles.