Bodies of 30 Naxals slain in both the encounters were recovered, said Bastar range inspector-general of police P. Sunderraj
Raipur: At least 30 Maoists were on Thursday gunned down in two separate encounters with the security forces in south Bastar in Chhattisgarh, police said. One jawan of the district reserve guard (DRG), an exclusive tribal counterinsurgency wing of the Chhattisgarh police, was also killed in one of the two encounters. Union home minister Amit Shah hailed the successes of security forces, calling it another step in the direction of “Naxal Mukt Bharat Abhiyan”.
While 26 Naxals were killed in an encounter with security forces in a forest in the Gangaloor area under Bijapur district, four Maoists were gunned down in a separate encounter in a forest along the borders of the Kanker-Narayanpur district, falling under the Abujhmad area, Bastar range inspector-general of police P. Sunderraj told this newspaper. Bodies of 30 Naxals slain in both the encounters were recovered, Mr Sunderraj said.
Search operations by security personnel at both the encounter sites continued till the last reports came. Death toll of Maoists in both the encounters may increase, a senior police officer indicated. A huge cache of firearms, including several automatic weapons, was recovered at these encounter sites, Mr Sunderraj said. Acting on specific intelligence inputs on the presence of a number of senior Maoist leaders in the forest of Andri along the borders of Bijapur and Dantewada districts, security forces launched a search operation in the area, according to the police.
Zo Council Security forces came under attack by the Maoists at around 7 am when they surrounded the latter’s camp set up at Pedia behind the Bailadila hills under Gangaloor police station, leading to a fierce encounter between them. Maoists’ company number two, one of their fearsome formations, has been operating in the area and was involved in a number of attacks on the Bailadila iron ore mine in the recent past, police said. Also Read - TN’s growth rate consistent at over 8%: Economic Survey Bodies of 26 Naxals, killed in the encounter, along with a huge cache of firearms including automatic weapons in the area, have so far been recovered in the area, police said. Details on the weapons recovered could be known after security forces returned to their camps, a senior police officer said. One DRG commando was also killed in the incident. In the other encounter that took place in a forest along the borders of Kanker and Narayanpur districts falling under Abujhmad in the morning, four Maoists were killed, police said. Bodies of all four deceased Maoists were recovered. In another incident, two jawans were injured when they stepped on an improvised explosive device (IED) planted by Maoists in a forest along the borders of Narayanpur and Dantewada districts. The two injured jawans were out of danger, police said. After the latest gunbattle, 113 Maoists have been killed so far in the state in the current year. Of them, 97 were killed in the Bastar division, comprising seven districts of Bastar, Kanker, Kondagaon, Narayanpur, Bijapur, Dantewada and Sukma. The Union home minister took to X to hail the successes achieved by security forces, saying, “Today, our soldiers have achieved another major success in the direction of ‘Naxal Mukt Bharat Abhiyan’”. Mr Shah added: “The Modi government is moving forward with a ruthless approach against Naxalites and is adopting a zero-tolerance policy against those Naxalites who are not surrendering despite all facilities ranging from surrender to inclusion. The country is going to be Naxal-free before March 31 next year.” Chhattisgarh chief minister Vishnu Deo Sai hailed the security forces for successfully conducting anti-Naxal operations.
