Police bust Naxal meet, kill four

NAGPUR: At least four Naxalites were reportedly killed in a major offensive planned by police on a naxal-den in remote Gyarabatti area of north Gadchiroli on Monday morning. Two policemen were also killed and as many injured when the members of the armed Platoon Dalam fired in retaliation. The operation was launched in the wee hours, but the actual confrontation took place around 7.15 am, according to the Gadchiroli police.

The Naxalites retaliated with Light Mortar Guns and rifles from the top of the hills killing on the spot two policemen - Avinash Ranadive and Birsa Atram - down at the foothill. Two others - Prakash Rathod and Vinod Bulle - who sustained wounds are out of danger. They have been admitted to the district government hospital and are recuperating fast.

Anti-Naxal Operation chief Pankaj Gupta told DNA from Gadchiroli that at least 140 naxalites of three to four splinter groups had converged on the Tipagarh hills, deep in the forests of the district under Purada police precincts, for a conclave to plan something big when the police launched an attack.

“We had surrounded them from three sides at the foothill, while the fourth side has a lake,” he informed. The operation, expected to continue for a few more days, was launched in the wee hours, Gupta added.

Three police parties were involved in the operation, according to Shirish Jain, the district superintendent of police. Jain claimed that it was a “big success” given the kind of terrain it was. He said the naxalite groups had managed to drag back their dead taking advantage of thick forest cover.

Gupta said that apart from the armed Platoon dalam, the members of Tipagarh and Khobramendha dalams were also present on the hills. “We are following them,” he said, confirming that the operation “is still on”.

In all, at least 15 Naxal splinter groups are active in Gadchiroli, with at least 20 declared members and tens of sympathisers and supporters. The Platoon dalam is the most ferocious of all, trained in the use of LMGs and other sophisticated weapons. And, the focus of the naxal groups has shifted to North of Gadchiroli from the south in this past year or so.

After the merger of the Maoists with the People’s War, the new CPI (ML) has grown in strength, according to analysts. The state’s policy for the Naxals willing to give up arms has yielded little success.Gupta informed that the police parties have found lot of blood on the hills after the operation, which indicates that a few Naxalites may also have been injured. The police are also trying to ascertain the motive of the Naxal groups behind this meeting, though they believe that the Naxals might have been formulating the plans for their training camps.