Top Maoist Leader Among At Least 12 Killed In Big Chhattisgarh Encounter

At least 18 Naxalites were killed by security forces in an encounter that broke out in Chhattisgarh’s Kanker district on Tuesday. Naxal leader Shankar Rao, who had a reward of Rs 25 lakh on his head, was also among the Naxalites killed in the fierce gun battle that took place at around 2 pm in Hapatola forest between Binagunda and Koronar villages under Chhotebethiya police station limits, the state police said.

Three security personnel were also injured in the gunfight, police said.

In an anti-Naxal operation by a joint team of the Border Security Force (BSF) and the state police’s District Reserve Guard (DRG), security personnel also recovered a large quantity of weapons from the spot.

The BSF has been extensively deployed in Kanker district for counter-insurgency operations.