**NAGPUR:**
A day after the Maoists called for a truce, five C-60 commando teams along with a CRPF battalion cordoned off a guerrilla hideout deep within the dense Modaske forests in Gadchiroli’s Etapalli tehsil. In a high-stakes encounter, they shot dead two dreaded women commanders who together carried a bounty of Rs 14 lakh, reports Soumitra Bose.
This significant jungle encounter has drastically reduced the Maoist ranks in Gadchiroli—a region once considered a stronghold of Left-wing insurgents in Maharashtra—to a skeletal 23 members, officials confirmed. This marks the fifth encounter this year in the booby-trapped forest, where intelligence gathering was once deemed suicidal.
The dawn raid followed a credible tip-off regarding a sabotage plot by the Maoists. The operation unfolded like a scene from jungle warfare, despite torrential rain. C-60 commando teams from the Pranhita headquarters, supported by the Gatta (Jambiya) police post and the CRPF’s 191 battalion, swiftly sealed off the jungle perimeter.
Led by Aheri Additional SP Satya Sai Karthik, the operation continued for at least eight hours. When the gunfire subsided, the bodies of two elite women Maoists were recovered along with an AK-47 rifle, a pistol, 37 live rounds, two walkie-talkies, and various insurgent equipment.
One of the slain guerrillas was identified as Sumitra, alias Sunita Veladi, 38, from Madvei village.
—
*End of Article*
**Follow Us On Social Media**
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/2-dreaded-red-commanders-both-women-gunned-down/articleshow/123960888.cms