Ten Naxals killed in Chhattisgarh encounter

Ten Naxals, including five women, were killed and several others suspected to have been injured in a gunfight with security forces in the Maoist hotbed of Sukma district of Chhattisgarh today.
Eleven guns and several rounds of ammunition were also recovered from the encounter spot in Puwarti village under Jagargunda police station area of the district in south Bastar.
Acting on a tip-off about the presence of Naxals in the forest areas, a search operation was launched by the special commando unit 'Greyhounds' of Andhra Pradesh, CRPF and state police force early this morning.
"On spotting the security forces, the ultras opened fire and in the retaliatory action, nine rebels were killed and several others were injured," Inspector General of Police (Bastar Range) Himanshu Gupta told PTI.

In Delhi, Union Home Secretary R K Singh complimented the forces for the "successful" operation and said no security personnel was injured.
According to senior security officials, some more Naxals were killed but their bodies could not be retrieved.
"Bodies of five women and four men belonging to the Naxal squad have been recovered and have been sent by a helicopter for post-mortem. The tenth body has been spotted by security forces but it could not be retrieved," a senior official involved in the operation said.
The forces had an input about senior Maoist cadres including their top leader Ramanna to be moving in the area which is a strategic red corridor joining four states-- Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh.