Balaghat,:

Three women Maoists were killed on Wednesday in an encounter with the police in Madhya Pradesh’s Balaghat district, an official said.

The anti-Maoist Hawk Force of the state police and local police teams took part in the operation that took place in a forested area near Chhattisgarh border, said additional superintendent of police Vijay Dabar.

The gun battle took place in the morning, at a location some 90 km from the district headquarters, and more details were awaited, Dabar told PTI.

“Hawk Force and the police neutralized three hardcore Maoists in an encounter near Ronda Forest Camp in Supkhar Forest Range under Garhi Police Station area,” an official statement said.

Police recovered an INSAS rifle, a Self-Loading Rifle (SLR) and a .303 rifle besides essential daily-use items, it said, adding that some Maoists were injured in the encounter, but managed to escape.

Twelve police teams are carrying out a combing operation to track them down, the statement added.

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

Bokaro:

Two Maoists, including a woman, were killed in a gunfight with security forces in Jharkhand’s Bokaro district on Wednesday, police said.

A red rebel, who was carrying a bounty of Rs 15 lakh on his head, was also arrested, a senior officer said.

The gunfight took place in a forest area under the Penk Narayanpur Police Station limits early on Wednesday, he said.

Jharkhand Director General of Police (DGP) Anurag Gupta, while briefing media persons in Bokaro, said that a Maoist area commander, identified as Shanti Devi, and red rebel Manoj Tudu were killed in the encounter.

“A large cache of arms and ammunition, including sophisticated weapons – an AK-47 and two INSAS rifles – were also recovered,” he said.

Mr Gupta said that 95 per cent of Maoists’ problems ended in Jharkhand.

“Once maximum districts of the state were affected by Maoists but now only two or three districts remained affected by red rebels activities. We have set a target to end the menace by March this year,” he said.

The police had a tip-off that regional committee member (Maoist) Ranvijay Mahato, who is carrying a bounty of Rs 15 lakh, along with his squad, had entered Bokaro district from Parasnath in Giridih to meet the Maoist group’s central committee member Vivek who was touring in Jhumra and Lugu hills, according to a police statement.

Mahato’s squad includes Saheb Ram Majhi, Manoj Tudu, Shanti Devi, Arvind Yadav and other members.

Based on the information, Mahato was arrested on Tuesday evening. “During interrogation, it was found that his squad is planning to carry out a crime in the hilly area of Vanshi and Jadwa villages under the Penk Narayanpur Police Station area,” it stated.

A joint operation team, comprising the Cobra battalion, CRPF, Jharkhand Jaguar and district police, was formed under the leadership of the Bokaro superintendent of police.

“An encounter broke out around 6.10 am between the Maoists and security forces. During the search, one male and one female Maoist were found dead due to gunshot wounds,” the release said.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)