3 more bodies of Naxalites found after encounter in Bijapur; toll rises to 13

Raipur: Three more bodies of Naxalites were recovered on Wednesday morning in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district where a fierce encounter took place between security personnel and Naxalites the previous day, police said.

With this, the number of Naxalites killed in the gun battle on Tuesday has risen to 13, they said.

Following the major anti-insurgency operation ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, the police on Tuesday found bodies of 10 Naxalites, including a woman.

During the search operation still underway in the area, the bodies of three more Naxalites were recovered on Wednesday morning from a dense forest where the encounter took place, a senior police official said.

"The identity of the dead Naxalites was yet to be ascertained but prima facie, it appears that they belonged to the PLGA (People's Liberation Guerrilla Army) company no. 2 of Maoists," the official said.

On Tuesday, the gunfight broke out between security forces and Naxalites at around 6 am in the forest between Lendra and Korcholi villages under the Gangaloor police station area, where a joint team of security personnel was out on an anti-Naxal operation.

The intermittent firing lasted for a long time and the security forces continued search operations in the area.

A light machine gun (LMG), a .303 rifle, a 12-bore gun, a large number of barrel grenade launchers and shells, and other arms and ammunition were also seized from the spot, police earlier said.

Bijapur district comes under the Bastar Lok Sabha constituency, which will go to polls in the first phase of the general elections on April 19.