Eight Maoists killed in Telangana gunfight

Hyderabad, Dec : Eight extremists of a newly formed Left wing group were killed in an exchange of fire with police in Telangana's Bhadradri Kothagudem on Thursday, police said.

The incident occurred in Tekulapalli forests of the district, adjoining Chhattisgarh.

The slain extremists were members of the CPI-MLs' Chandr Pullareddy Baata group, which was formed in July this year by some Maoist earlier associated with CPI-ML Jana Shakti group.

The gunbattle took place during a combing operation by police in the forests.

A police officer said the combing operations were launched following a tip-off about the presence of extremists.

Bhadradri Kothagudem's Superintendent of Police Amber Kishore Jha said the group was indulging in extortions from contractors and local businessmen.

The police officer said the extremists opened fire when asked to surrender. The police had to return fire, killing eight extremists. No policeman was injured in the incident.

The police recovered five weapons including an SLR and two 8 mm rifles.

This is the first major gunfight between police and Maoists since formation of Telangana in 2014.

While police have foiled the attempts of the banned CPI-Maoist to revive their activities in the newly-created state, some extremists associated with Jana Shakti outfit regrouped to form a new organisation. Police said this was active in four districts.