Fierce encounter with Maoist guerillas in north Bihar

Motihari, Dec 19 (UNI) A fierce gun battle between heavily armed Maoist guerillas and the Bihar armed police force began at the remote Kadma village in the Maoist dominated East Champaran district of north Bihar this evening.

Preliminary reports quoting district Superintendent of Police Sunil Kumar Jha here said acting on a tip off a group of about 50 underground guerillas had assembled at the remote village bordering Nepal, about 70 km from the district headquarters, a police team reached the spot and asked the insurgents to surrender.

But refusing to act accordingly the Maoists started firing on the police force, which was immediately retaliated by police and a fierce encounter ensued which was still continuing even after three hours and when last reports came in.

Though it was still not known how many rounds were fired by both sides or whether there was any casualty on either side, the SP said in the wake of the ferocity of the gun battle, additional forces, including the CRPF and the Special Auxiliary Police (SAP) personnel, had been sought from the district headquarters.

Both District Magistratre and the SP had also been camping at the site to coordinate the deploymwent of additional security forces.

The entire village had been cordoned off by the security forces to prevent any escape by the guerillas under the cover of darkness, the SP informed.

Meanwhile, unconfirmed reports here said at least three security personnel were injured in the encounter, which was still continuing.

However, whether there was any injury on the Maoist side was not yet known.

UNI