Aurangabad, Aug 14:
The Superintendent of Police (Rural), Manish Kalwaniya has been honored with the Gallantry Medal by the President for eliminating five naxals during an anti-naxal operation carried out in the forest area in Dhanora tehsil of Gadchiroli district on October 18, 2020.
SP Kalwaniya, was working as additional SP, Gadchiroli between September 2019-21. The outlaws engaged in a gunbattle with the police party that was on routine patrolling duty in the Gyarapatti area of Gadchiroli district when the face-off took place in Kosmi-Kisneli forest. Five Naxalites were gunned down by C-60 commandos of the Gadchiroli police around on October 18, 2020 during the anti-Naxal operations in the forest area in Dhanora tehsil under the guidance of the then additional SP Kalwaniya. The exchange happened for about eight hours.
Looking at the pressure mounting on them, the other outlaws ran away into the thick forest. The encounter didn’t cause any harm to the police. The police seized a large quantity of arms, ammunition, cooker bombs, explosives and other Naxal materials. In this campaign, Kalwaniya, along with his C-60 commando team managed to intercept the naxalites from Tipagad Dalam, Korchi Dalam, and Platoon 15. A reward of Rs 18 lakhs was placed on a naxal who was killed in the said encounter.