RAIPUR: With three more bodies recovered by security forces on Saturday, the death toll of left-wing extremists killed in a fierce gun battle has risen to 31. This marks the Maoists' ‘biggest loss in their revolutionary history’ in conflict-ridden Bastar, south Chhattisgarh.
On April 16 of this year, the outlawed CPI (Maoist) lost 29 cadres, the highest casualty inflicted by troops in one of the biggest offensives planned in Kanker district, North Bastar.
The Bastar Inspector General of Police, Sunderraj P, confirmed on Friday that 28 bodies had been recovered. However, he later stated that the figures could rise after a joint team of District Reserve Guards (DRG) and Special Task Force (STF) engaged in a gunfight for over six hours during the search operation along the inter-district border area of Dantewada and Narayanpur.
“One DRG jawan was injured. He has been evacuated and his condition is out of danger. Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) troops have been sent to the area as additional reinforcement and the search operation has been intensified. The region where the operation was launched happens to be the stronghold of senior Maoist leaders of Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee (DKZSC) and commanders of Peoples' Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) company”, the IG said.
A large cache of weapons, including AK-47s, Self Loading Rifles (SLR), Light Machine Guns (LMG), INSAS assault rifles, .303 rifles, and explosives, among other items belonging to the Maoists, has also been recovered from the region after the encounter, police reported.
In recent months, security forces have conducted aggressive anti-Maoist operations with a renewed strategy targeting rebels in areas considered their strongholds in conflict-ridden Bastar. The recovered bodies will be identified after the safe return of the security forces engaged in the operation, according to the police.
So far this year, 188 Maoist cadres have been neutralised by security forces, with 663 arrested and 556 surrendering since January in the conflict-ridden Bastar zone.
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai on microblogging platform X cited the incident as a major success for the security forces, adding that the battle will continue until the Maoists are wiped out.
“The uprooting of Maoists from the state is our goal. Our double-engine government remains fully committed to it,” the chief minister said.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah, during his review meeting of the inter-state coordination committee in Raipur in August, declared that the country will be free from the Maoist problem by March 2026.
Since 2019, 277 new camps of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) have been set up to fill the security vacuum in the Maoist-affected areas of the state.
Maoists killed in last five years
2019: 65
2020: 40
2021: 51
2022: 30
2023: 20
2024 (till Oct 04): 188
