Two women Maoists were on Wednesday gunned down in a fierce encounter with the police at a forest patch in restive Narayanpur district of Bastar, police said.
The skirmish took place this morning in the forest near Hasnar village when a joint team of the Special Task Force (STF) and District Reserve Group (DRG) was out on an anti-Naxal operation according to Narayanpur Superintendent of Police (SP), Santosh Singh. Two women Naxals were killed in the incident, he said.
The squad had earlier launched the operation in the restive Abhujmad area, considered as a Maoist den, he said.
When the patrolling team was cordoning off a forest patch near Hasnar, the security men spotted a Maoist camp and started encircling the area. On sensing the presence of the security personnel, the rebels started firing indiscriminately on them leading to the gun battle, the SP said.
The encounter lasted for about an hour following which the ultras fled into the forest, Singh said. later during a search, the bodies of two women Maoists clad in uniform were found at the spot, he said. The police also recovered two 315 bore guns, some explosives, Maoists uniforms, their literature and several other items from the site, Singh said. Further details are awaited as the operation is still underway in the region, he said.