Police gun down six Naxal rebels in Chhattisgarh's Bastar district

Chhattisgarh police have gunned down six Naxalites in a special operation launched against the left wing extremists in state’s restive Narayanpur district on Tuesday. 
 
At least 450 security and police personnel arrived at Abhujmand- a stronghold of Naxalites- to carry out the special operation, called “Prahar-II”, that was launched in the seven Naxal-affected areas in Bastar district.
 
The special force constituted for the purpose included the state police, the special task force (STF) and the district reserve group (DRG).
 

“In Narayanpur district, the force had encounters, following which six Naxalites were killed,” said D M Awasthi, special director general of police (anti-Naxal operations). Nine weapons were recovered after the encounters, said the police.

 
The special operation against Naxal rebels would continue until Wednesday. In other parts of Bastar, the elite CoBRA battalion of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) had been involved.
 
Naxalites killed in the encounters have not been identified yet but the recovery of weapons stand testimony that they were hardcore, said Awasthi.
 
So far, the Chhattisgarh Police has killed at least 63 Naxal rebels this year.