Gariaband (Chhattisgarh) [India], January 4 (HBTV): Three Naxals were killed in an exchange of fire with security forces in Chhattisgarh's Gariaband district on Friday, police reported.

Gariaband Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Jitendra Chandrakar confirmed the encounter and stated that it is still ongoing. Further details are awaited.

In December last year, two CoBRA commandos of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) were injured during an exchange of fire with Naxals while securing a forward base in the forested area of Sukma district in Chhattisgarh.

In a separate incident, two Naxals were killed in an encounter with security forces in the Nendra-Punnur forests under the Basaguda police station area. Security personnel recovered two 12-bore guns, Naxal uniforms, literature, explosives, and other materials from the site.

Earlier this week, on Wednesday, 11 Naxalites, including Vimla Chandra Sidam, alias Tarakka, who carried a bounty of INR 1 crore, surrendered before the police in Maharashtra's Gadchiroli district.

The surrender, which took place at the Gadchiroli Police Headquarters, included eight women and three men. Collectively, the group had bounties exceeding INR 1 crore on their heads. Among them was Tarakka Sidam, the head of the Dandakaranya Zonal Committee and wife of Bhupati, who had been involved in Naxalism for 34 years.

(ANI)