Gadchiroli, April 24: In the second gunfight with Maoists within a span of three days, the crack commandos of C-60 force ended up killing six more naxal militants.

The encounter on Tuesday was reported in Jimlagatta region of Gadchiroli district. Out of the six naxals killed, four were women, confirmed superintendent of police Dr Abhinav Deshmukh. The site of ambush was located nearly 60-km away from Tadgaon, where scores of Maoists were killed on Sunday.

While 15 were confirmed to be killed in the encounter on Sunday, the death toll further climbed as 16 more bodies were recovered today.

The bodies were found floating on the Indravati river in the early hours of the day, the SP said. "The collective toll of both encounters has reached 37," another official added, describing it as the most severe setback to the Maoists in the past few years.

"This is the first time that two divisional committee members of the CPI (Maoist) have been killed in one operation,” the DIG (Gadchiroli range), Ankush Shinde, was reported as saying.

The ulta-Left forces have faced a string of setbacks over the past four years, with their strongholds in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and eastern Maharashtra being eroded to a significant extent.

The crack commando operation in Maharashtra comes days after 12 Maoists were killed in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur region last month. "The red terror is on the verge of total elimination. The government, over the past four years, is penetrating even into the most remotest parts of the nation," Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said in his recent address.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while addressing the nation on Ambedkar Jayanti from Bijapur, appealed the region's ultra-left militants to shun violence and enter the mainstream. "I would like to ask the youth on the path of violence that the Constitution takes care of your rights. It is government’s duty to protect your rights. You need not pick arms and destroy your lives," he had said.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 24, 2018 05:35 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).