Police, naxals exchange fire in Gadchiroli

Nagpur, Oct 10 (UNI) The police exchanged fire with suspected Naxalites in Gadchiroli district in Vidarbha region of Maharashtra.

According to police, the encounter took place in the jungles near village Botehur in Dhanora tehsil of the district last night.

A group of armed naxalites opened fire when a police party had gone to collect the body of a man, killed by the outlaws on Monday, a police press release here said.

The police returned the fire, and the exchange continued for nearly 25 minutes, it said adding that the naxalites later fled into the jungle.

On Monday, naxalites had killed one of their sympathisers, identified as Bhojuram Mandu Naitam (55), near village Botehur by slitting his throat with a sharp weapon.

UNI