3 naxals killed, 2 cops hurt in encounter

By N. Rahul

KOTHUR (WARANGAL), APRIL 18. Three naxalites of the Janashakthi (Rajanna faction) were killed and two policemen, including a reserve SI, injured in a fierce exchange of fire between a 15- member strong naxalite dalam and a combing party of the police on a hill called, Devunigutta, adjoining the village, on Wednesday morning.

The police recovered one carbine, three 8 mm rifles, one Chinese- made pistol besides eight kitbags, extremist literature and some other articles from the scene.

It was a chance encounter with the extremists for a small party of the police, which had started trekking the narrow countryside tracks and parched fields since the wee hours. The police did well to engage the dalam in an exchange of fire for nearly 40 minutes on a terrain where the extremists clearly held the advantage. The encounter started around 6.45 am when the naxalites were beginning their daily chores.

The police party was climbing up the hill over a stream bed when the naxalites perched behind rocks on the upper reaches of the hill. The policemen first noticed some water cans and then a couple sentries at a distance.

Firing started immediately from the naxalite side atop, who used the rocks and boulders to shield themselves. The policemen also took cover behind tree trunks and rocks to return the fire.

It was in an attempt to corner the naxals from a different direction that the reserve SI, Mr. Rajaiah, and constable Mr. Narsing Rao, got detached from the remaining force and received the brunt of the firing. Mr. Rajaiah suffered a minor injury in the stomach and Mr. Narsing Rao's thigh was badly punctured as bullets pierced through it.

The remaining policemen managed to kill a woman and a man at one spot and another man at an isolated place. A naxalite was said to have waited near an injured comrade to carry him off for nearly 15 minutes. He kept on firing sporadic shots at the police from behind a rock in an attempt to get the ammunition of the police exhausted. He fled the scene when it became certain that he cannot escape carrying the injured naxalite. The extremist was killed immediately.

The scene of encounter was such that the naxalites would have to necessarily stand up in their positions behind rocks and run a few paces up the hill to escape over a vast stretch of rocks in an open area which leads to Sarvapur forest. The naxalites could not take the risk of crawling their way up the hill because of the steep height.

All the naxals are believed to have escaped under the cover of firing by the comrades who were ultimately killed. Some of them were believed to have suffered grievous injuries while fleeing. The police followed the bloodstains of the injured naxalites for some distance during the post-encounter combing taken up with a large reinforcement, which arrived from Mulug. The police expect that the injured naxalites might not survive long going by the distance on the hill they would have to cover without medical aid and the heavy bleeding they had.

The police said they were expecting the naxalite outfit to be lurking in the area for three or four days. There was evidence of their cooking food on Tuesday at a spot somewhere in the rocks below the scene of an encounter and a day before the naxalites were seen even at the foothill.

Kothur is a sensitive naxalite village which shelters three groups - the PWG, Prathighatana and Janashakthi. The village is cut off from Jangalapalli - Ankan-nagudem road in Mulug mandal, all along which there are half a dozen villages. The village is surrounded by sprawling fields and a vast terrain in the background.

One of the slain naxalites is suspected to be Chandranna, a district committee member of the Janashakthi.

The injured policemen were operated at a private hospital in Warangal.

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