According to police, the eight Naxalites slain in Saturday's clash with security forces in the Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh were senior cadres with a total reward of Rs 16 lakh.

During an anti-Naxal operation in a forest close to Todka village, which is under the jurisdiction of the Gangaloor police station, the members of the banned Maoist organization were shot and killed. In the gunfight, two members of the state police's District Reserve Guard were also hurt.
According to a senior police official on Sunday, Kamlesh Neelkanth (24), a member of the Gangaloor area committee under the Maoists' west Bastar division, was carrying a reward of Rs 5 lakh on his head among the neutralized Naxalites.

According to him, two more people, identified as Tati Kamlu and Mangal Tati from the Gangaloor LOS (local organization squad), each had a Rs 3 lakh reward mounted on their heads.

The rest, identified as Lachchu Potam (40), Shankar Tati (26), Raju Tati, Vijju Padam (22) and Sannu Tati (40), were active in various wings of Maoists and carried a reward of Rs 1 lakh each, he said.

One Insas rifle, one Barrel Grenade Launcher (BGL) and its 10 shells, two 12-bore rifles, four muzzle-loading rifles and a huge cache of explosives items were recovered from the encounter site, he said.

So far this year, 49 Naxalites have been killed in separate encounters in the state. Of them, 33 were killed in the Bastar division comprising seven districts, including Bijapur.

On January 20-21, police said, 16 Naxalites were killed in an encounter with security personnel in the state's Gariaband district, which is a part of the Raipur division.

Last year, 219 Naxalites were neutralised by security forces in separate encounters in the state, as per police.