Beltangady: Police, Naxals Exchange Fire in Bangadikolli

Beltangady, Mar 10: A four-member suspected Naxal group and Karnataka Anti-Naxal Force (ANF) on Saturday March 10 exchanged fire during a combing operation at Bangadikolli here, police said.

The outlaws opened fire at the ANF personnel, who were combing the area following a tip off about movement of a naxal group, which was returned by the police.

It was not immediately known whether anyone was injured in the exchange of fire, police said. However, sources later confirmed that one policeman sustained injuries in the attack.

The injured policeman has been identified as Sadashiva Chaudhary.

The combing operations began on Saturday morning and the exchange of fire started at around 2.30 pm when the ANF suspected that the Naxals had got nearer. The firing lasted till around 4.30 pm. More than a hundred ANF men were part of the operation.

Conflicting reports have emerged regarding the number of Naxals - while one source said only three were present, of which two were women, another source claimed that there were at least 25 people. Stuff like laptop, rice and cooking utensils were recovered from the spot, it is learnt.

Top police officials including IGP (western range) Pratap Reddy, superintendent of police Abhishek Goyal and ASP Anucheta visited the spot.

With PTI inputs.