RAIPUR: Twelve Maoists and three security personnel were killed during a gunfight in a major anti-Naxal operation in the West Bastar division area along the Bijapur–Dantewada inter-district border, some 420 km south of Raipur on Wednesday.
Two jawans also sustained injuries in an exchange of fire and their conditions were stated to be out of danger.
Bijapur district superintendent of police, Jitendra Yadav, said that, “Anti-Maoist search operation was launched by a joint team of Dantewada–Bijapur District Reserve Guard (DRG), the Special Task Force (STF), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and its elite unit CoBRA commandos. The encounter between security forces and Maoists ensued at around 9 AM in the region. The intermittent firing and search operation continues as a decisive aggressive offensive by the forces remains underway”.
According to Bastar range IGP Sundarraj Pattilingam, security forces have so far recovered 12 Maoist bodies besides arms and ammunition from the encounter scene. "A large cache of weapons including AK-47 rifles, Self Loading Rifles (SLR), Light Machine Gun (LMG), INSAS assault rifles, .303 rifles, explosives besides other items of Maoists have also been seized from the site. We are consistently monitoring and the situation remains under control,” he said.
Further operational details were not shared owing to the safety concerns of the personnel engaged in the anti-Maoist campaign on the ground.
Detailed information will be shared after the operation gets over, the IG stated.
The operation in the difficult geographical terrain was planned following the intelligence inputs, the officer added. Additional reinforcement has been rushed and the efforts are on to cordon-off the region, as the forces have intensified the search operation in and around the encounter scene.
The deceased jawans, head constable Monu Vadadi, constable Dukaru Gonde and constable Ramesh Sodi, belonged to the DRG Bijapur district. The injured DRG personnel assistant sub-inspector Janardan Korram and constable Somdev Yadav have been admitted in a hospital for immediate medical attention.
The area where the gunfight occurred is stated to be the epicentre of the banned outfit CPI (Maoist).
The identification process of the recovered bodies of Maoists will be carried out after the operation concludes. There remains a possibility of recovering more bodies of Maoists late at night.
This year, 275 bodies of Maoists have been recovered so far in various encounters in Chhattisgarh including 246 killed in the Bastar division that includes seven districts affected by left-wing extremists.
Union home minister Amit Shah has declared March 31, 2026 as a deadline to wipe out the Maoists from the country.
“The uprooting of Maoists from the state is our goal. Our double engine government remains fully committed to it”, Vishnu Deo Sai the chief minister reiterated.
The encounter took place amid the recent wave of mass surrenders in Bastar zone, appeals by few senior Maoist leaders to their cadres to join mainstream and the recent plea by Maharashtra-Madhya Pradesh-Chhattisgarh (MMC) Special Zonal Committee seeking a three-month time to enable them to arrive at a decision over laying down arms and accept the rehabilitation plan of government.
After the BJP came to power in December 2023 in Chhattisgarh, around 2,300 Maoists have surrendered in the state.