8 Naxals Killed In Massive Encounter In Illendu Forest 

Kothagudem: In a massive encounter, eight members of a naxal group were killed in Illendu forest area in Bhadradri Kothagudem district of Telangana in the early hours on Thursday.

The eight naxals belonged to CPI-ML CP-Bata, a splinter group that was formed only a few months back with 15 members. Other members quit the group and six of them surrendered before the police some time back. With all the eight members of the group being killed in the encounter, which is largest in the district since 1991 Kanchanapally encounter in Khammam district, the CP-Bata is completely eliminated.

Speaking to reporters, the district SP Ambar Kishor Jha said the police party which was on a patrol in the forest area found the naxals and warned them to surrender. "But they opened fire on the police. As they were carrying highly sophisticated weapons, our personnel had to retaliate in self-defence and all of them were killed in the encounter," he said.

Illendu MLA Gummadi Narsaiah condemned the encounter and alleged that the police created a scene to project it as an encounter after killing them in captivity somewhere else. The villagers near the encounter spot said they did not hear any firing sounds in the morning, according to a TV channel report.