33 bodies have been recovered from Maharashtra's Gadchiroli after Sunday's encounter.
The bodies of another 15 Maoists have been recovered during combing operations in Maharashtra's Gadchiroli -- pushing up the number of Maoists killed during two encounters since Sunday to 37 and making it the most successful anti-Maoist operation by the state's security forces in nearly four decades.
The decomposing bodies were found floating in the Indravati river, which flows along the Maharashtra-Chhattisgarh border, nearly 1000 km from Mumbai.
Congratulating the C-60 commandos on the success of the operation, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said, "We have been doing this operation in collaboration with other states. Specifically in the last two years, Maharashtra's C-60 and CRPF have done many great operations. Sunday's operation was biggest operation in Maharashtra's history."
The dead Maoists are believed to be among those who managed to escape during the encounter on Sunday.
The operation at Tadgaon area was planned with precision as the police had intelligence inputs and were tracking the movements of Maoists for weeks. The commandos gave the Maoists a chance to surrender, but they did not.
On Monday, Sharad Shelar, a senior officer in the Anti-Naxal Operations, said the police had to resort to firing for "self -protection". "The firing continued for some time after which there was silence. The police party started a search operation, and we found 16 dead bodies of Maoists." Among those who died were three high-ranking men and seven women. The police said a number of them were shot as they tried to escape, swimming across the Indravati river.
A fresh encounter took place barely 36 hours later, on Monday, at a village in Jimlagatta, around 60 km from Sunday's ambush spot. Six Maoists were killed during the operation, among whom was one of the higher-ups in the group, identified as Nandu.
The security forces have virtually sealed off the entire district and are conducting thorough combing operations.
The state police are using the opportunity to get more Maoists to surrender. Director General of Police Satish Mathur said, "The only way out for those who are involved in the Maoist insurgency is to surrender. The Maharashtra government has a very good scheme for those who want to come back to the mainstream. We appeal to everyone, especially through the media to take advantage of the government scheme."