Forces reclaim Koragutta Hills in Chhattisgarh from Maoists

NEW DELHI: Chhattisgarh govt sources on Sunday claimed to have cleared a portion of the Koragutta Hills in Bijapur , which borders Telangana, of Maoists ' presence as counter-Naxal forces, who had encircled the Naxal bastion in an massive operation under way for the past nine days, reclaimed the hilltop and hoisted the tricolour there at 5,000 feet.

Though top Maoist leaders and cadres of the notorious People's Liberation Guerrilla Army 's (PLGA) Battalion No. 1 - including Hidma, Deva and Damodar - were initially contained at the hilltop and supply lines to them cut as commandos from the Chhattisgarh Police's District Reserve Guard (DRG) and Special Task Force (STF) and CRPF's CoBRA battalion dominated the access from the Chhattisgarh side, a top officer of the Chhattisgarh govt said the Naxalites managed to escape to Telangana from the other side of the hill. "It appears the Telangana special forces, which were part of the operation initially, were not manning the escape routes on their side," said the officer.

"This region was the bastion of top Naxal commanders like Hidma, Deva, Damodar, Azad and Sujata. Chhattisgarh police and CoBRA battalion have now reclaimed the hills on its side. Cornered, the Maoist leaders and PLGA cadres have escaped and found sanctuary in Telangana. The forces in Chhattisgarh will now set up security camps or forward operating bases in Koragutta hills and hold the area to prevent the return of Maoists or cadres of PLGA Battalion No. 1," an officer told TOI.

After the Maoists were surrounded by the forces and three PLGA cadres killed in the Koregutta operation, the CPI(Maoist) central committee had, in a statement dated April 25, appealed for a time-bound ceasefire with security forces to "create a conducive atmosphere" for peace talks.

"We appeal that a conducive atmosphere be created for peace dialogue with the Maoists by stopping these killings and declaring a time-bound ceasefire across Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Odisha, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh," the CPI (Maoist) said, while nudging the civil society, journalists and other groups to endorse their appeal and convince the Centre and state govts for the peace talks.