Three Naxals killed in encounter with security forces in Chhattisgarh; police says insurgents opened fire during search operation

Raipur: Three Naxals were killed in an encounter with security forces in the Sukma district of Chhattisgarh on Friday, an official said. [caption id=“attachment_4517231” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] The gun battle took place in the forest area located between Gattapad and Tokanpalli villages under Chintagufa police station area around 10 am, according to Abhishek Meena, Sukma Superintendent of Police. “A joint team of District Reserve Guard (DRG) and Special Task Force (STF) had launched a search operation in the forest of Chintagufa last night. Chintagufa is located around 500 kilometres away from  Raipur, the capital,” he said. When the patrolling team was cordoning off the forest between Gattapad and Tokanpalli, the Naxals opened fire on them, he said. Security forces fired in retaliation and the gunfight continued for a while. However, the Naxals soon escaped into the forest. During a search of the area, bodies of three ultras clad in ‘uniform’ along with four weapons, including a 315 bore rifle, a pistol, and a muzzle-loading gun, were recovered from the spot, he said. The process of identifying the slain Naxals was on, according to Meena.