Raipur, Dec 17 (PTI) Naxalites used villagers, including minors, as human shields during an encounter with security forces in Abhujmaad area of Chhattisgarh's Narayanpur district last week, resulting in injuries to four civilians in the Naxal firing, police said on Tuesday.

Preliminary investigation suggests that Maoist militia members used civilians to protect Odisha state committee member Kartik alias Dasru.

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Dasru, carrying a Rs 25 lakh reward on his head, was among the seven Naxals, including two women, who were killed in the exchange of fire with security personnel on Kalhaja-Donderbeda hills in south Abhujmaad, considered the Naxal den, on December 12.

A couple of days back, police received inputs about injuries to four villagers in the December 12 encounter following which they were hospitalised, Inspector General of Police Sundarraj P told PTI.

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"The preliminary investigation suggests that militia members of Maoists used villagers, including minors, to shield Maoist leader Kartik during the gunfight. Naxalites had kept villagers along with them to ferry their goods. After the encounter broke out, they fired on security personnel using these civilians as their cover. Four villagers were reported to be injured in the firing by Naxalites", he said.

After learning about the incident, the injured civilians were provided preliminary treatment and shifted to hospital, he said.

There are reports that several Naxalites sustained injuries in the same encounter and they are being treated in nearby forest areas, the IG said, adding that further details are being collected.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday said the Chhattisgarh police have secured a significant achievement in the fight against Naxalism in the last year by neutralising 287 Naxalites and arresting around 1,000, while 837 others surrendered in the last year in the state.

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