3 Maoists Gunned Down in Bijapur Encounter

Operation Was Launched on Intel That Top Maoist Leaders Hidma, Deva, Damodar, Were Present in the Area

- Ritesh Mishra and Srinivasa Rao Apparasu

RAIPUR/HYDERABAD: Three Maoists were killed on Thursday morning as security personnel from three states launched an operation along the inter-state border in Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh following information that top Maoist commanders, Mandvi Hidma, Deva and Damodar, were present in the area, officials said.

Over 10,000 personnel from Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and Telangana, and paramilitary forces entered the forest on Tuesday evening, in one of the bigger anti-Maoist operations. The encounter was going on till the time of going to print.

While bodies of three extremists were recovered from the site, several other Maoists are also suspected to have been killed in the fierce gun battle, a police officer said.