Chhattisgarh: 12 Naxals Killed in Bastar Encounter, Toll May Rise, Encounter Still Continues

Raipur: At least 12 Maoists were on Thursday gunned down in an encounter with security forces in the forest of Bijapur district in south Bastar of Chhattisgarh.

The death toll of Naxals may go up as an intense gunbattle was still going on till the last reports came at nine pm, a senior police officer said, unwilling to be quoted.

The exact casualty figure could be known after the encounter ends, a spokesman of Bastar police said.

All the security personnel involved in the counterinsurgency operation were safe, the police officer said.

Bastar range inspector general of police P Sunderraj has confirmed the encounter.

“There is every possibility of Naxals suffering heavy casualty. The encounter is still going on. Details could be known only after the encounter ends”, a spokesman of Bastar police said.

A senior police officer told this newspaper that the encounter took place in the forest near Pujari Kanker village under Terram police station in Bijapur district at around nine in the morning.

Acting on specific intelligence inputs on the presence of large number of armed Maoists including some senior cadres in the Pujari Kanker area, a joint security team comprising personnel of district reserve guard (DRG), Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA) and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) launched a search operation in the particular forest.

The search party came under attack by the Maoists leading to the fierce encounter.

“Security forces have surrounded the Naxals. The casualty figure among the ultras is most likely to go up”, the police officer said.

The forested area where the encounter was going on has been known to be the core area of Maoists and guarded by the battalion number one of outlawed CPI (Maoist).

In April 2021, 22 CRPF jawans were killed in a Maoist ambush in Tekelguda, close to the encounter site, a police officer said.