NEW DELHI, July 6 (NNN-PTI) – Four Naxal rebels were killed Sunday in a gunfight in India’s eastern state of Odisha, police said.
The gunfight erupted inside the forest area in Tumudibandha of Kandhamal district, about 256 km west of Bhubaneswar, the capital city of Odisha.
“Today a gunfight broke out between Naxals and police at Tumudibandha in Kandhamal,” a police official said. “Four Naxals were killed in the standoff.”
According to the police, some Naxals were also wounded in the gunfight.
Police said, the operation was launched on specific intelligence operation, suggesting the presence of Naxals. Government forces did not suffer any casualty in the gunfight.
Naxals are active in more than a third of India’s 600-odd districts across the central and eastern part.
India’s former prime minister, Manmohan Singh, once termed the Naxalite movement as India’s “greatest internal security challenge.”
New Delhi deployed several companies of its paramilitary forces to take on Naxals in their strongholds.
The insurgency reportedly claimed hundreds of lives, besides rendering thousands of poor inhabitants homeless.– NNN-PTI
