Chhattisgarh: 10 Naxalites Including 3 Women Killed In Bastar Region In Major Anti-naxal Op

In a major anti-Naxal operation, ten Naxalites, including three women, were killed in an encounter with security personnel in a forest along the borders of Narayanpur and Kanker districts in Chhattisgarh on Tuesday, police said.

According to a senior police official, the encounter took place at around 6:00 am in the forest between Tekmeta and Kakur villages in the Abhujmad area when a joint team of the District Reserve Guard (DRG) and Special Task Force (STF) was out on an anti-Naxal operation.

This is the second major crackdown on Naxalites by security forces in 15 days.

After the gunfight stopped, the bodies of ten Naxalites, including three women, were recovered from the spot, the official said. The identity of the killed Naxalites was yet to be ascertained, he added.

An AK-47 rifle and other weapons and explosives were also seized from the spot. A search operation was still underway in the area, which is considered to be a stronghold of Naxalites.

As many as 91 Naxalites have been killed so far this year in separate encounters with security forces in the Bastar region, according to police.

In one of the largest operations by security forces in Chhattisgarh, as many as 29 Naxalites were killed and their bodies were recovered on April 16. Of the 29 Maoists, more than a dozen were women who were wielding deadly weapons and trying to protect the men when forces attacked them.

Three security personnel, including two Border Security Force jawans and one personnel of the state police’s District Reserve Guard (DRG), also suffered injuries during the encounter.

“On April 16, a search operation by a joint team comprising of Kanker DRG and BSF was launched in the Chhottebetiya police station limit area in Kanker district. At around 2 pm, there was an exchange of fire between Maoists and security forces near Binagunda-Koragutta jungles of the Chhottebetiya Police station area,” Chhatisgarh police said.

(With PTI inputs)

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