An encounter in jungles within the National Park region of the Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh on Sunday claimed the lives of 31 Maoists and two security officials.
IG Bastar, P Sundarraj, later confirmed that the number of Maoists has increased to 31 from the original 12 toll. On Sunday, the procedure started at midday. The clash occurs one week after security troops in the Bijapur district killed eight Maoists in another operation.
“Two jawans, including one from the District Reserve Guard (DRG) and the other from Special Task Force (STF), lost their lives, while two others were injured in the gunfight,” Bastar IG P Sundarraj said.
According to a senior police officer, the gunfight that claimed the lives of eight Maoists began on January 31 while a combined security team was conducting an anti-Maoist operation.
The operation, which was started on Friday after learning of the presence of Maoist cadres from the “West Bastar division,” was carried out by members of the state police’s District Reserve Guard and Special Task Force, the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), and its elite unit CoBRA (Commando Battalion for Resolute Action), he said.
The security measures are in accordance with the central government’s commitment to “end Naxalism” by 2026, which Home Minister Amit Shah reaffirmed on January 6 following the deaths of eight District Reserve Guard (DRG) jawans and one driver in Bijapur, Chhattisgarh, when Maoists detonated their vehicle with an IED. Search operation is going on, IG Bastar, P Sundarraj said.
