Gondia: A fierce encounter took place between the police and the Naxalites between 4:30 pm and 5:00 pm on Friday, April 7, in the Dakejhari forest area, 3 km from Mukurdoh Dam in Naxal-affected Salekasa Tehsil of Gondia district. The area located on the Maharashtra-Chhattisgarh border echoed with the sound of gunfire during the encounter.
In fact, the police party involved in the anti-Naxal campaign got concrete information from the intelligence that Naxalites are camping in Mukurdoh area with the intention of carrying out some major violent incident. As soon as the information about the presence of Naxalites in the forest was received, the police immediately conducted a search and ambush operation. Meanwhile, between 4.30 pm and 5 pm, as soon as the police party reached the Dakejhari forest, the Naxalites belonging to the banned Maoist organization were visible from a distance.
When the police warned them to surrender, the Naxalites started firing on the police party. The police, in their defence, replied bullet to bullet and during this encounter, 72 rounds of firing were done by the police party. Hundreds of rounds of bullets were fired from both sides. However, the increasing pressure forced the Naxalites to flee towards the opposite direction in the forests of Chhattisgarh. No jawan has been injured from the police party in this encounter.
Giving information about this, Balasaheb Borse, Police Inspector of Saleksa Police Station, said that at the time when the encounter was going on, the weather was not good to some extent and taking advantage of the thunderstorm and rain, 7 to 8 Naxalites escaped towards Chhattisgarh forest. A search of the area where the encounter took place led to the recovery of some literature including a cap and a slipper.
In this context, action is on to register a case against the Naxalites who attacked the police party.
-Ravi Arya
