Naxals torch a truck in Gadchiroli

Mumbai, May 19: The Naxals, who had called for a 'bandh today, reportedly torched a truck in Maharashtra's Gadchiroli. They torched a truck at a wood depot, reported ANI.

Naxals have called for a 'bandh' in Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra on May 19 to protest the killings of two fellow women in an encounter last month. They have put up banners in some villages in Etapalli tehsil of Gadchiroli informing people about Bandh call.

The Naxals have also distributed pamphlets claiming that the May 1 attack on security forces, in which 40 jawans were killed, was carried out to avenge the Boriya-Kasnasur encounter in which the police eliminated 40 Maoists in 2018, said reports.

In the banners, the Naxals alleged that the killings of the women cadres, Ramco-Durva, by the security forces on April 27 was an infringement of their constitutional rights, reports quoted Gadchiroli superintendent of police (SP) as saying.

The two women Naxals were killed in an encounter in the Gunderwahi forest in Gadchiroli, when commandos of the C-60 squad, the police's anti-Naxal unit, were combing the area. Ramco and Durva were carrying rewards of Rs 16 lakh and Rs 4 lakh, respectively, on their heads.

Earlier this month, Maoists torched 26 vehicles and machines in Dadapur village of Kurkheda where road construction work was going on.