New Delhi: In a major anti-naxal operation Sunday, at least 31 suspected Maoists were killed in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur district. In the encounter by security forces, including District Reserve Guard and Special Task Force, that commenced Sunday morning in the forest area near Indravati National Park, two security personnel were also killed and two others injured, who were then airlifted from the site.
The exchange of fire broke out around 100 kilometres away from the Bijapur district headquarters.
While 31 bodies of suspected Maoists have been recovered so far, security forces are expecting the toll to rise further as intensive search operations are still underway.
Sunday’s encounter has taken the number of Maoist casualties to at least 81 so far this year.
“Security forces left for a search operation in the wake of intelligence inputs about the presence and movement of top Maoist cadres, including those from the Telangana state committee [Communist Party of India (Maoist)] in jungles around Indravati National Park. They are engaged in an intermittent exchange of fire with armed cadres of Maoists. So far, 31 bodies have been recovered during the search operation in the area,” Bastar Range Inspector General of Police Sundarraj Pattilingam told media persons Sunday.
Meanwhile, Chhattisgarh Home Minister Vijay Sharma told reporters, “Unfortunately, two of our soldiers have been martyred; I salute them. This is their supreme sacrifice. May God give strength to the bereaved family. I wish for the speedy recovery of the injured soldiers. Maoists used to be free in these areas earlier. These are their last bastions and they will not have a place to hide after these areas.”
Located deep inside the dense forest area between Bijapur and Dantewada districts in the South Bastar region, Indravati National Park has been earmarked as one of the most challenging areas for forces to conduct operations, besides Abujmarh forest in the North Bastar region.
Located on the bank of the Indravati river, the park does not allow the forces seamless entry and exit routes for swift operations in the area. However, they are slowly making progress in penetrating the region.
Last month, security forces carried out an operation in the same region, eliminating five cadres of the CPI (Maoist).
“Indravati National Park area is one of the least penetrated areas for the security forces until very recently, and we are going aggressive inside their bastion as part of our aggressive strategy to weed out the menace of violent Maoist movement,” a senior officer in the Chhattisgarh Police told ThePrint.
Overall, in Chhattisgarh, at least 62 Maoists have been killed so far this year across naxal-affected districts, such as Kanker, Narayanpur, Bijapur, Sukma and Dantewada.
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