In an intelligence-based operation carried out in the run up to the Lok Sabha polls, the police and security forces gunned down four Maoists during an encounter in the naxalite-infested Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra, on Tuesday morning.
Acting on an intelligence input that the outlawed naxalites were planning subversive activities in eastern Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and Telangana ahead of the LS, the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and the C-60 commandos of the Anti-Naxal Operations (ANO) eliminated four Maoists in the Kolamarka mountain ranges near Repanpall in Aheri taluka of Gadchiroli district.
While one of the C-60 unit teams was conducting a search on Tuesday morning in the Kolamarka mountains near Repanpalli, Naxalites fired at them indiscriminately to which the security personnel retaliated, the official said.
The police identified the four killed Maoists as Varghese, Secretary of Mangi Indravelli Area, D V C M Magtu, Secretary of Sirpur Chennur Area Committee and two Platoon members Kursang Raju and Kudimetta Venkatesh. The four Maoists collectively carried a reward of Rs 36 lakh.
An AK-47 gun, a carbine, two country-made pistols, Naxal literature and other items were also recovered, the official said.
The four deceased Maoists were members of the Telangana State Committee, who had crossed the Pranhita river and sneaked into Gadchiroli from the Telangana side.
