Gadchiroli: Three Maoists and an elite police commando were killed in an encounter in the Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra on Friday. The encounter has been going on for the last 24 hours, officials said.
Based on intelligence inputs, C-60 commando units of the Maharashtra Police launched a major counter-insurgency operation in a forested stretch of Gadchiroli.
The operation involving 14 C-60 units under the sub-divisional police officer for Bhamragad began near Phodewada village on the Gadchiroli-Narayanpur border after specific intelligence was received on Tuesday evening about the presence of ultras of company number 10 of the outlawed Communist Party of India (Maoist), an official said.
“An exchange of fire took place on Wednesday, resulting in two Naxal
ite camps being busted. It led to the recovery of Maoist belongings, though the ultras could not be traced due to hostile terrain and dense forest,” an official was quoted as saying by PTI.
“On Thursday morning, an additional four C-60 units and one unit of QAT of the CRPF were reinforced to the existing cordon,” he added.
The encounter resumed and the body of one rebel was recovered along with an AK-47 rifle and a Self-Loading Rifle (SLR), the official informed.
“The dead Maoists are yet to be identified. Chances of more Maoists being injured or killed are being ascertained. A C-60 jawan received a bullet injury late on Thursday evening,” the official was quoted as saying.
Meanwhile, the government informed the Lok Sabha on Tuesday that more than 7,400 Maoists have been arrested and 5,880 have surrendered since 2019, while incidents of Left Wing Extremism-related violence have dropped by 88 per cent, from 1,936 in 2010 to 234 in 2025, as reported by News18.
Replying to a query, Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai said that in 2025 alone, security forces neutralised 364 Naxals, arrested 1,022 others and facilitated 2,337 surrenders.