At least 12 Naxalites were killed in an encounter with security forces in the Gariaband district of India's central state of Chhattisgarh on Tuesday (Jan 21).
This comes a day after two women Naxalites were killed and a CoBRA officer was injured in an encounter during the same operation, said the police.
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What happened?
As per a PTI news agency report citing an official, the fresh exchange between Indian forces and the Naxalites happened late at night on Monday and early Tuesday.
It happened in a forest under the jurisdiction of the Manipur police station area along the Chhattisgarh-Odisha border.
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The officer said that the operation was carried out by a joint team of security personnel from the District Reserve Guard (DRG), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), CoBRA from Chhattisgarh and Special Operations Group (SOG) from Odisha.
Following intelligence reports of Maoist activity in Chhattisgarh's Kularighat reserve forest, just 5 km from the border of Odisha's Nuapada district, an operation was launched on January 19th.
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Monday's operation resulted in the deaths of two female Naxalites.
Authorities recovered a significant number of weapons, ammunition, and IEDs—including a self-loading rifle—from the scene, according to an official who said that the number of Maoist casualties may increase.
Over 200 Maoists killed in 2024
Over 200 Maoists were killed in the year 2024 by the Chhattisgarh security forces.
Earlier, Union Home Minister Amit Shah vowed that the Maoist menace will be eradicated from the country by March 2026.
“When Chhattisgarh becomes free of Maoist insurgency, the entire country will be rid of the menace… Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi Ji’s leadership, in the past 10 years, we tightened the noose around Maoists and there was a 73% reduction in deaths of security personnel and a 70% fall in civilian killings… For the first time in 40 years, the death toll of civilians and security personnel is less than 100,” Shah said in Raipur.
“With the support of central security forces, the state broke past records and neutralised 287 Maoists in the past year, arrested 1,000 and got 837 to surrender,” he added.
“The state’s leadership, chief minister and home minister pledged to eradicate Maoists and the govt of India is also committed to support your pledge that, together, we will completely eliminate Maoists from Chhattisgarh by March 31, 2026,” the Union home minister vowed.
(With inputs from agencies)