RAIPUR: Security forces on Friday gunned down 12 Maoists during an encounter in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur district, taking the number of Left-wing extremists eliminated so far this year in the state to 103. Two security personnel were also injured in an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast triggered by the Naxalites during the operation, police officials said.
This was the third major strike on Naxalites by security forces in the past month. On April 16, the forces had killed 29 extremists in an encounter in Kanker district.
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai congratulated security forces and senior officials for the successful operation. “Since we came to power, we have strongly fought against Naxalism. Both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah want Naxalism to end soon, and we are getting the benefit of double engine sarkar,” he said. The latest offensive took place in a forest near Pidia village under Gangaloor police station limits when a joint team of security personnel was out on an anti-Naxal operation.
Personnel belonging to the District Reserve Guard from Bijapur, Dantewada and Sukma districts, Bastar Fighters, Special Task Force, Central Reserve Police Force and its elite unit CoBRA were involved in the operation, officials said.
The operation was launched based on inputs about presence of commander of People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army company No. 2 of Maoists Vella, and Gagaloor area committee secretary Dinesh Modiyam along with 100 to 150 cadres in the forest, official added.