India, May 14 -- The Congress on Tuesday constituted a fact-finding committee to probe the Bijapur encounter in Chhattisgarh in which 12 suspected Maoists were killed on May 10, the party said, two days after the villagers alleged that the encounter was "fake".

The team is led by tribal leader and former deputy speaker of Chhattisgarh legislative assembly Santram Netam and includes Indra Shah Mandavi, Vikram Mandavi, Janak Ram Dhruv, Savitri Mandavi, Devti Karma, Rajnu Netam and Shankar Kudiam.

State Congress president Deepak Baij issued a letter in this regard and urged the members to submit a detailed fact-finding report as soon as possible.

On Friday, security forces said they gunned down 12 Maoists, including Budhu Oyam and Kallu P...