Chhattisgarh: 8 Maoists killed in encounter in Bijapur district

Eight Maoists were killed in an encounter with security forces in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district on Saturday, the police said, adding that the gunfight broke out around 8.30 am in the forest in Gangaloor police station area.

The gunfight broke when a joint team of security personnel was out on an anti-Maoist operation, news agency PTI quoted a senior police official as saying.

Personnel of the District Reserve Guard and Special Task Force of the state police along with the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and its elite unit CoBRA (Commando Battalion for Resolute Action) were involved in the operation which was launched on Friday after receiving information about the presence of cadres of the `West Bastar division' of the Maoists in the area, he said.

The development comes in line with central government's vow to “end Naxalism” by 2026, which Home Minister Amit Shah had reiterated on January 6 after eight District Reserve Guard (DRG) jawans and one driver lost their lives when their vehicle was blown up by Maoists using an IED in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur.

The blast reportedly took place on the Bedre-Kutru Road in Bijapur district.

The jawans of DRG Dantewada, were returning in a Scorpio after a joint operation, the IG said. The joint operation was of Dantewada, Narayanpur and Bijapur, IG Bastar added.

The Maoist attack on DRG, a unit of the state police, was the biggest strike on security personnel by Maoists in the last two years, PTI quoted an official. On April 26, 2023, ten police personnel and a civilian driver were killed after Maoists blew up their vehicle, which was part of a convoy carrying security personnel in neighbouring Dantewada district.

Home Minister Amit Shah took to microblogging platform X and said he was deeply saddened by the news of the loss of DRG soldiers in the IED blast in Bijapur. “It is impossible to express this grief in words, but I assure you that the sacrifice of our soldiers will not go in vain.