NEW Delhi Police on Tuesday reported that a Naxalite woman was killed in a gunfight with government forces in the central Indian state of Chattisgarh.

The police said the gunfight started inside forests of Dabbakonta in Chintagupha area of Sukma district, about 463 kilometres south of Raipur, the capital city of Chhattisgarh.

“A gunfight broke out this morning in the forest area at Dabbakonta village between a joint team of security forces and Naxals, and in the stand-off, a woman Naxal cadre was killed.’’

Reports said some Naxals managed to escape during the gunfight.

Policemen involved in the firefight have not suffered any casualty in the stand-off, officials said.

Police added that four Naxals, including three woman cadres, were killed in a fierce gunfight inside forests of Dhamtari district last week.

India’s former Prime, Manmohan Singh, once termed the Naxalite movement as India’s “greatest internal security challenge’’.

Naxalite groups generally have claimed to represent the poorest and most socially marginalised members of the Indian society, notably tribal peoples and Dalits.

They are to adhere to the Maoist doctrine of sustained peasant-led revolution.

For decades, they have waged guerrilla warfare against such targets as landlords, business people, politicians, and security forces and they disrupted infrastructure by damaging transportation, communication and power lines.

In the process, they often have been able to establish bases of operation in remote forested areas.

Naxalite groups have come to control large territories in many of the states of eastern India.

Currently, Naxalites are active in more than a third of India’s 600-odd districts across central and eastern India.

-NAN

BE

– July 9, 2019 @ 18:25 GMT