Nine Naxalites were killed in an encounter with security personnel in Bastar region of Chhattisgarh on Tuesday, a senior police official said. Automatic weapons, including large numbers of SLR rifles, .303 Rifles and .315 Bore rifles were recovered from them.
A report by PTI quoted Inspector General of Police, Bastar Range Sundarraj P, as saying that the encounter broke out around 10:30 am in the forest along the border of Dantewada and Bijapur districts when a joint team of security forces was out on an anti-Naxal operation.
The operation was launched based on inputs about the presence of Naxalites belonging to its west Bastar division unit, Sundarraj said, adding that Personnel belonging to the District Reserve Guard (DRG) and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) were involved in it.
“The intermittent exchange of fire lasted for a long duration, following which the bodies of nine Naxalites clad in ‘uniform’ were recovered from the spot,” the IGP Bastar range said.
A report by ANI quoted Dantewada SP Gaurav Rai as saying that all security force personnel who were involved in the operation were said to be safe and search operations was underway in the area.
On August 29, three women Naxalites – members of the North Bastar Division Committee and the PLGA Company number 5 – were killed in an encounter in the dense forests of Abujhmad in Narayanpur.
Bastar region comprises seven districts, including Dantewada and Bijapur.
With this incident, 154 Naxalites have been shot down by the security forces in different encounters in Chhattisgarh so far in 2024, the police said.
On August 24, Union Home Minister Amit Shah assured that the government will be able to free the country from Naxalism by March 2026.
With inputs from agencies.
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