SAA event in Chhattisgarh, Domaharra in Kanker District area, India on Sat 25th February 2023

Three Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) cadres were gunned down in an encounter in Hurtarai forests near Domaharra village in the Koyalibeda region in Kanker District of Chhattisgarh on February 25, reports The Times of India. Police sources said security forces had gone after Maoist ‘commander’ Raju Salam, head of 'military company No.5', who operates in Koyalibeda. Kanker Superintendent of Police (SP) Indira Kalyan Elesela said a joint team of 175 personnel from the District Reserve Guard (DRG) and Border Security Force (BSF) went on the operation. After coming under attack, the Security Forces (SFs) retaliated with firing, killing at least three Maoists. The Maoists broke off and fled after a long gunfight. While combing the battleground, the forces found three dead Maoists and three guns, the SP said, adding that the "number of Maoist deaths may increase." "Unless the body of Raju Salam is recovered, we consider him alive," the SP said. The three dead Maoists are from Salam's unit, and their identities are yet to be ascertained. “The identification process is going on, and as per primary information, they were the members of Military Company -5 of Maad Area belonging to the Communist Party of India (Maoist),” said the SP.