Bijapur
The Chhattisgarh police on Friday claimed that out of 31 Maoists killed, 17 men and 11 women have been identified. All of them had a total reward of Rs 1.10 crore on their heads. The slain Maoists include the mastermind of the IED blast on 6 January. Eight security personnel and a citizen lost their lives in the blast. Apart from this, there were many other deadly attacks.
Inspector General of Police Sundararaj P, Bastar Range, said that the 31 militants killed include Hunga Karma, who was the secretary of the Bastar Bastar Division of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) and had a reward of Rs 8 lakh on his head. IG said, ‘He was the mastermind of the attack on security personnel on 6 January. Karma was also responsible for the 2006 Murkinar camp attack, killing 11 policemen and was also responsible for the 2007 Ranibodali camp attack, killing 55 security personnel.
Karma, also known as Sonu, was a member of a divisional committee of Maoists. Sundararaj said that he joined the banned organization in 1996 and had eight Naxalite-related cases including attacks, kidnappings and murders on police teams and camps in various police stations in Bijapur district. Of the 31 militants killed, 28 have been identified. It has 17 men and 11 women, who collectively had a reward of Rs 1.10 crore.
The IG said, “The bodies of these 28 people have been handed over to their families, while the remaining three are trying to identify.” So far this year, 81 Maoists have been killed in the state, out of which 65 have been killed in Bastar division. It also includes Bijapur and six other districts. IG said that this year, security forces have recovered 77 firemas in various encounters in Bastar region, including two AK-47 rifles, five self-loading rifles (SLRs), two INSAS rifles and three .303 rifles.