Chattisgarh: Three Naxals killed in encounter in Bijapur district

Raipur, Feb 9: Three

including a couple were killed in an

with the security forces in

district of

, police said on Sunday.

The gunbattle took place during a combing operation in the Badekakler forest under Farsegarh police station limits last evening, Bijapur Deputy Superintendent of Police Sukhnandan Rathore told PTI.

A joint team of Chhattisgarh Police and Maharashtra Police was carrying out the combing operation in the Farsegarh region on the inter-state border, around 450 km from Raipur, when the Naxals attacked, he said.

The gunbattle took place during a combing operation in the Badekakler forest.

After a fierce gun-battle, the ultras retreated to the core area of the forest, the DSP said. Bodies of three Naxals and a muzzle-loading gun, a tiffin bomb, some naxal literature and some items of daily use were found on the spot.

The dead Naxals were identified as Naveen Mandavi (38), his wife Mase Telam (27) and Sannu Udde (23). Mandavi was a member of 'Platoon II' of Maoists from 2001 to 2004 and after that he worked as a training instructor for the cadres in Gangalur area of Bijapur till 2009. Presently he was the 'section commander' in 'Military Platoon II' of Naxals.

Mase Telam was a member of 'National Park Area Supply Dalam'. Sannu Udde, who joined the Naxal movement in 2006, was a member of 'Sendra Local Operation Squad' since 2012, according to the police.

PTI