Chhattisgarh: Maoist neutralised in Dhamtari encounter carried ₹5 lakh bounty

The Maoist who was killed in an encounter with security forces in Dhamtari district a day ago was an area committee member of CPI (Maoist) and carried a cash reward of ₹5 lakh on his head, officials said.

Dhamtari superintendent of police Anjney Varshny said that the neutralised Maoist was identified as Arun Mandavi.

“He was active in the Sitanadi area committee of CPI (Maoist) and used to handle activities on the Gariaband (Chhattisgarh) and Odisha border,” the PS said.

Mandavi was allegedly involved in various Maoist incidents, including an encounter with security forces in 2022 in the Sonebeda area of Odisha and in another encounter in April this year under the Borai police station area of Dhamtari.

After the encounter on Sunday, Dhamtari police claimed to have recovered a self-loading rifle (SLR), Maoist literature and commodities of daily use from the site of the encounter.

Police said that a team of District Reserve Guard (DRG) was out on an anti-naxal operation and when encounter broke out with the patrolling team was cordoning off Muhkot-Aamjhar.

So far, 133 Naxals have been killed in separate encounters with security forces in the state this year. Of these, 131 Maoists were gunned down in the Bastar division, while two others were neutralised in Dhamtari district which falls in the Raipur division.