Three Naxals who had a total bounty of ₹36 lakhs on their heads were killed in a police encounter in the jungle area of Gadchiroli on Sunday.
The killed Naxals were identified as Bitlu Madavi, Shrikant alias Podya Uike, and Vasu. Shrikant and Vasu were residents of Bastar, while Bitlu was a resident of Visamundi, Gadchiroli.
According to the police, they received credible information that Perimili and Aheri Dalam were camping in the forest area of Kedmara between Mane Rajaram and Perimili armed outpost.
Police fired upon by Naxals
Based on this information, two C60 parties were launched from Pranhita to conduct a search operation in the jungle area. While the search operation was ongoing, the parties were fired upon by the Naxals, leading to an exchange of fire at the location around 7 pm on Sunday.
"After the exchange of fire, during the search operation, three Naxal male bodies were recovered along with weapons and other materials," said a police officer.
Here is what the initial information revealed:
Initial information revealed that Bitlu Madavi was the commander of Perimili Dalam, and the other two bodies were of Vasu of Perimili Dalam and Srikant of Aheri Dalam. "Preliminary information suggests that Vasu was promoted to the rank of Divisional Committee Member (DVCM) in 2023 and Srikant as Deputy Commander of Aheri Local Organisational Squad (LOS), which is being verified," added the officer.
Bitlu Madavi was the prime accused in the murder of student Sainath Narote on March 09 this year, along with two incidents of arson of road construction equipment at Visamundi and Alenga in February and March 2023. Vasu was carrying a cash reward of ₹16 lakhs on his head, Bitlu Madavi ₹12 lakhs, and Shrikant ₹8 lakhs, making the total bounty ₹36 lakhs.
