Raipur: Fourteen Naxals were gunned down in an encounter with the security forces in the forested area close to the Udanti Sitanadi wildlife sanctuary in Gariaband district of Chhattisgarh, the police said on Tuesday. Among them was a central committee member of the outlawed CPI (Maoist), Jayaram alias Chalpathi, who carried a bounty of Rs 1 crore on his head.
The encounter, which took place in Kulhadi Ghat area under Mainpur police station on Monday afternoon, was continuing till the last reports came at 7 pm on Tuesday, the police said.
“Fourteen Maoists have been killed in the encounter so far. Besides, a huge cache of automatic weapons, including self-loaded rifles (SLR) and INSAS, were recovered at the encounter site”, additional DGP (Naxal operation) Vivekanand Sinha told this newspaper.
The death toll of Maoists is likely to go up as the security forces have started closing in on the Maoist camp in the area, another police officer said, but did not want to be quoted.
The development assumes significance as far as the counter-insurgency is concerned as a Maoist central committee member has not been known to be killed in an encounter, a senior police officer said.
Jayaram, alias Chalpathi alias Ramchandra Reddy alias Appa Rao alias Ramu, was a CC member and was in charge of the Maoists’ Odisha state committee, according to the police.
He was also operating in the Marh region in Abujhmad area in south Bastar, the police said. He hailed from Matampalle village under Kambhamvaripalle Mandal in Chittoor district in Andhra Pradesh.
Acting on specific intelligence inputs on the presence of some top-level Maoist leaders along with armed Naxals in the forested area, a joint operation involving Chhattisgarh’s district reserve guards (DRG), CRPF, CoBRA and Odisha’s Special Operation Group (SoG) was launched on Monday.
Sources said that around 1,000 security personnel from the Chhattisgarh and Odisha police and the CRPF had surrounded a group of around 60 Maoists from all sides, leaving them little opportunity to escape.
“The security forces have now advanced towards the Maoists’ camp and the exact number of the slain Naxals could be ascertained when the forces raid the camp”, a police officer said.
Union home minister Amit Shah hailed the successful counter-insurgency operation and said: “Another mighty blow to Naxalism. Our security forces achieved major success towards building a Naxal-free Bharat. The CRPF, SoG Odisha, and Chhattisgarh police neutralised 14 Naxalites in a joint operation along the Odisha-Chhattisgarh border. With our resolve for a Naxal-free India and the joint efforts of our security forces, Naxalism is breathing its last today”.
Chhattisgarh CM Vishnu Deo Sai said: “Strengthening the resolve of esteemed Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah to end Naxalism in the country by March 2026, security personnel are continuously achieving success in counter-insurgency operations. Their achievements are commendable and I salute their bravery”.
On Monday, two women Maoists were killed in an encounter with the security forces in the area.
On January 16, as many as 18 Maoists, including Telangana state committee chief Damodar, carrying a bounty of Rs 50 lakhs, were gunned down in an encounter in Bijapur district in south Bastar in Chhattisgarh.
