Ten Naxalites including three women were killed in an encounter with security forces on the border of Narayanpur and Kanker districts of Chhattisgarh on Tuesday morning, police said.
This was a second major blow to the Naxalites within 15 days. The site of Tuesday's encounter was 30 km south of Kalper village in Kanker where 29 Naxalites were killed in a gunfight with security forces on April 16, said a senior police official.
Deputy Chief Minister and home minister Vijay Sharma termed the latest operation as a major success while also appealing the Naxalites to come forward for talks and give up the path of violence.
The encounter took place around 6 am in the forest between Tekmeta and Kakur villages in Abhujmad area, a Naxalite stronghold, when a joint team of the police's District Reserve Guard and Special Task Force was out on an anti-Naxal operation, a senior police official said.
The operation had been launched on Monday night based on inputs about the presence of armed Maoists in the region, he said.
After the guns fell silent, the bodies of ten Naxalites, including three women, were recovered, he said.
An AK-47 rifle and an INSAS rifle besides other arms, ammunition and explosives were recovered from the spot, the official said.
The identity of the slain Naxalites was yet to be ascertained.
Deputy CM Sharma congratulated the security personnel for the success. No personnel was harmed during the gunfight, he noted.
"The state government led by Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai wants a solution to this issue through talks. If any Naxalite, or a big or small group wants to talk through video call or a mediator, we are ready and will arrange better rehabilitation for them. We urge them to join the mainstream. We want peace to prevail in Bastar and development to take place there," Sharma said.
As many as 91 Naxalites have been killed this year so far in Chhattisgarh's Bastar region which comprises seven districts including Narayanpur and Kanker, according to police.
