This story is from May 22, 2021

13 Maoists gunned down in predawn action in Gadchiroli

13 Maoists gunned down in predawn action in Gadchiroli
Thirteen rebels, including seven women, were killed by C-60 commandos in Paidi forest near Kotmi in Etapalli taluka of Gadchiroli on Friday
Nagpur: The C-60 commandos dealt a deadly blow to the Maoists in the forest of Paidi near Kotmi in Etapalli taluka of south Gadchiroli in eastern Maharashtra by eliminating 13 rebels, including seven women, during a predawn operation on Friday.
The commandos had laid ‘double layered ambush’, cordoning a hillock where the Maoists had set up a temporary camp (Laying up point or LUP), around a couple of kilometres from Paidi.
They had held a meeting with the tribals in the village previous evening regarding tendu leave collection and earnings from it.
This stretch had been known as ‘safe zone’ for Maoists. Around a month ago, commandos had failed to zero in on the same group near Korkuti village, around a few kilometres from Paidi.
Sources said the commandos had started their operation on Thursday night but circled the Maoist camp on the hillock in teams during predawn. One AK 47, five SLR, three .303 rifles, one carbine, pistols and several other materials including their literature were seized from the place.
DIG, Naxal range, Sandip Patil said following an input from police’s human intelligence network regarding presence of Maoists, commandos were dispatched in smaller teams from Gadchiroli and Aheri headquarters.
“The first bullets were fired from the Maoists camp after which commandos decided to retaliate,” he said adding there were no injuries among the commandos.
The DIG said they outsmarted the Maoists by plugging the exit points.

Maharashtra home minister Dilip Walse Patil, who was in the district on Friday, extolled the efforts of the commandos. District guardian minister Eknath Shinde too appreciated the team work done by the Gadchiroli police under DIG Patil, SP Ankit Goyal and Addl SP (Operations) Manish Kalwaniya.
Addl DG (Operations) Sanjay Saxena too reached Gadchiroli from Mumbai.
This is the second biggest success for Gadchiroli police against the Maoists after the Kasnasoor encounter in 2018 when 34 cadres were killed.
On May 21 in 2009, the Maoists had gunned down 16 police personnel, including almost half a dozen women constables, in a brutal attack at Hatti Gota in Dhanora tehsil in north Gadchiroli.
In the latest action on Friday, the C-60 commandos managed to wipe out a sizeable chunk of the Kasansoor Dalam which worked as crucial link between the north and south Gadchiroli division of the Maoists.
The Maoist camp lost their senior leader and divisional committee member (DVCM) Satish Mohanda of the Maoists’ Company number four formation. Deputy commander of the Kasnasoor dalam, Rupesh Gawade, too was killed.
It is learnt, a few Maoists managed to sneak out after suffering bullet injuries, but one of the village militia members, Kishor Holi, was killed.
Senior Maoist leader of the north Gadchiroli and action team expert Mahesh Gota’s wife, Sunita Naitam, too was among the ones who were killed in the action.
Police said four members of Company four were eliminated in the encounter. “The company formations protect the dalams but in this case their military men were less in number. We will eliminate rest of the dalams soon if they do not surrender,” said DIG Patil.
This is the second jolt to the Maoists this year. In March, Gadchiroli police had gunned down five members of the Khobramendha dalam, which weakened the Maoists base in north Gadchiroli.
MAOISTS KILLED IN PAST ENCOUNTERS
January, 2013 | Six, Govindgaon
July, 2013 | Six, Mendhari
February, 2014 | Seven, Bethkati
December, 2017 | Seven, Kalled
April, 2018 | 34, Boria-Kasnasoor
April, 2018 | Six, Nainer
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