Bhopal:

At least 13 Maoists were killed by security forces in a major operation ahead of the Lok Sabha elections in Chhattisgarh. Police said the gunfight took place in a remote forest in Bijapur district on Tuesday. The exchange of fire, lasting for about eight hours, left the area fraught with tension and marked by the aftermath of battle.

Inspector General of Police, P Sundarraj, said officers have seized a large cache of rifles, machine guns, and ammunition.

“The identity of the Maoist dead bodies is yet to be established,” Mr Sundarraj said, adding that three of those killed were women.

Another police official said that prima facie, it appears that the insurgents killed

“The identity of the dead Naxalites was yet to be ascertained but prima facie, it appears that they belonged to the PLGA (People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army) company no. 2 of Maoists,” the official said.

The operation, spearheaded by Bijapur District Reserve Guard, in collaboration with CRPF, STF, and CoBRA teams, was a concerted effort to eliminate the threat posed by the Maoists in the area. Intelligence had indicated the presence of the notorious Maoist leader, Papa Rao, prompting the security forces to launch the operation.

During the search of the encounter site, security forces recovered a substantial cache of arms and ammunition, including one LMG, one .303 bore rifle, and one 12 bore rifle, along with a significant quantity of BGL shells and launchers.

Bijapur district comes under the Bastar Lok Sabha constituency, which will go to polls in the first phase of the general elections on April 19.

Chilling details have emerged in a double murder case in Uttar Pradesh’s Budaun, in which a man allegedly killed two children over a dispute with their father.

The alleged killer, Sajid, ran a barber shop opposite the victims’ house and knew their father Vinod, police said. On Tuesday evening, Sajid visited their house, ostensibly to borrow Rs 5,000, but Vinod was not at home. When Vinod’s wife left the room to make tea, he allegedly attacked her three children.

The double murders sparked tension in the city, with residents setting the barber’s shop on fire.

According to the family, Sajid told Vinod’s wife Sangeeta that his pregnant wife was in hospital and he needed Rs 5,000 for her treatment. Sangeeta phoned her husband Vinod, who reportedly told her to loan him the money.

While she was in the kitchen making tea, Sajid allegedly asked her oldest son, 11-year-old Aayush, to show him his mother’s beauty salon upstairs. The boy led him to the first floor, and then the second floor. On the second floor, Sajid allegedly switched off the lights and attacked Aayush with a knife.

Sajid was allegedly slitting Aayush’s throat when his youngest brother Ahaan (6) walked in. Sajid allegedly grabbed Ahaan and killed him in a similar manner. He went on to attack their other brother, Piyush, but the seven-year-old was able to run away and hide, the police said. Aayush and Ahaan died but Piyush suffered minor injuries.

The family told the police that Sajid fled with his brother Javed, who was waiting outside on a bike. Both Sajid and Javed were involved in the crime, the family has alleged.

The police claim when Sajid was caught, he fired at the cops and was killed in an encounter. An inspector was shot during the encounter and has been admitted to hospital, the police said. Javed is still missing.

An FIR has been registered against the brothers. The police said the motive behind the murders has not been established so far, but it appears to be a dispute between Sajid and Vinod.

Vinod, however, has denied that there was a dispute between the two. “I had no dispute with him. I was away from home for work when he came to the house. He asked for Rs 5,000 and my wife gave him the money. One of my sons was able to escape his attack and warn his mother,” Vinod told NDTV.

Faridabad:

A sub-inspector and his team were booked on Tuesday after the family of a man, killed in a police encounter, accused them of murder, officials said.

This comes three days after the encounter and a day after a panchayat was held at Pakhal village demanding the registration of a murder case against the cops, and met a Union minister and a senior Congress leader in the matter.

An FIR has been registered against Sub-Inspector Rakesh Kumar, head of Sector 48 crime unit, and his team under sections 302 (murder) and 34 (common intention) of the IPC at Dhauj police station, said Sube Singh, spokesperson of Faridabad Police.

According to police, the deceased, Balraj alias Balwinder alias Ballu of Pavata Mahabatabad village is a criminal wanted by police in multiple cases of robbery. He was shot dead in a brief police encounter on Saturday while two of his associates were arrested after the incident.

On Monday morning, villagers from Mahabatabad village held a panchayat at nearby Pakhal village and demanded that a murder case be lodged against the cops.

A 35-member committee was formed at the panchayat and senior Congress leader Vijay Pratap Singh spoke to Police Commissioner Rakesh Kumar Arya over phone, demanding that a case of murder be registered against the policemen.

After this, villagers met Union Minister of State Krishnapal Gurjar at his residence in Delhi late in the evening on Monday who assured them that no injustice will be done. A judicial inquiry by Judicial Magistrate Naurang Sharma has been ordered into the matter but the family demanded an FIR before post-mortem. On Tuesday, the FIR was registered.

According to police, the Crime Branch of Sector 48 received information late on Saturday night that Balraj and his two associates were going to commit a crime, police said.

A crime branch team chased the car-borne trio and asked them to stop, they said. “When they asked the three to stop, they opened fire at the Crime Branch team and a bullet hit a police vehicle. Balraj was shot in retaliatory firing by police and his associates were nabbed.

“Balraj was rushed to a hospital where doctors declared him brought dead,” a senior police officer said.

After the incident, Balraj’s family members and people from his village started gathering at Badshah Khan Hospital alleging that he was murdered.

Balraj was wanted in four cases of robbery and snatching. He got married eight years ago and is survived by three children, among other family members.

His accomplices are identified as Anup alias Chaliya, resident of Dabua colony and Arvind, resident of Rajiv colony, Faridabad. Anup alias Chaliya was lodged in jail for the murder of one Naresh Bhakri and he had come out of jail on bail recently.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)