Bijapur: In a major crackdown on Naxal activity, security forces killed 22 members of the banned CPI (Maoist) group in two separate encounters in Chhattisgarh on Thursday, officials reported.
The first encounter occurred in Bijapur district, where 18 Naxals were killed during an anti-Naxalite operation in the Gangaloor police station area near the Bijapur-Dantewada border.
A joint team of security personnel, including the District Reserve Guard (DRG), was conducting the operation when a gunfight erupted around 7 am.
A senior police officer confirmed that the bodies of 18 Naxals, along with firearms and explosives, were recovered from the site. Unfortunately, a DRG jawan also lost his life during the exchange of fire.
In a separate encounter in the Kanker district, four more Naxals were killed by a joint team comprising Border Security Force (BSF) personnel and state police DRG units. Intermittent gunfire was still being reported from the Kanker area at the time of the latest updates.
Operations in both regions are ongoing.
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Meanwhile, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday said the security forces have achieved another big success in its march to make the country Naxal-free by killing 22 members of the CPI (Maoists) in Chhattisgarh.
Shah also said the Narendra Modi government is moving forward with a ruthless approach against the Naxalites, and adopting a zero tolerance policy against those extremists who are not surrendering despite all the facilities being offered.
“Today our soldiers have achieved another big success in the direction of a ‘Naxal Mukt Bharat Abhiyan’. Twenty-two Naxalites were killed in two separate operations by our security forces at Bijapur and Kanker in Chhattisgarh.
