India’s most-wanted Naxal field and operations commander Milind Teltumbde and a dozen top operatives were among the 26 outlaws who were gunned down during the 10-hour-long encounter in Gadchiroli on Saturday, giving a body blow to the CPI (Maoist) movement.
Of the 26 killed, six were women. Officials have identified 16 bodies so far.
Milind Teltumbde carried a reward of Rs 50 lakh and had spread a reign of terror in Maharashtra and neighbouring Chhattisgarh and Telangana.
Besides Teltumbde, others include Lokesh alias Mangu Podyam alias Madkam, Mahesh alias Shivaji Raoji Gota, Sannu alias Kovachi, Bhagat Singh alias Pradeep Alias Tilak Mankur Jadde, Vimla alias Imla alias Kamla alias Manso Sukhram Boga.
Collectively, they carried a reward of over Rs 1.5 crore.
“A huge cache of arms and ammunition and Naxal literature has been seized,” Gadchiroli Superintendent of Police Ankit Goyal said.
The C-60 commando crack force of the Anti-Naxal Operations and Special Action Group were involved in the encounter.
Initial combing operations have revealed that at least 100 outlaws were present in the camp.
As far as the police and security personnel were concerned, about 300 of them were involved in the operations.
Four injured jawans were airlifted to the Orange City Hospital in Nagpur and are now out of danger.
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