Raipur: At least seven Maoists were killed in a gunfight in a forest near Chhattisgarh’s Narayanpur district on Thursday.
The joint operation was carried out by security forces and police forces of Narayanpur, Bastar and Dantewada, Hindustan Times reported quoting officials aware of the matter.
The encounter was underway till late in the evening in Abujhmaad forest, at the tri-junction of Narayanpur, Bastar and Dantewada districts.
Police seized a huge quantity of weapons and other materials from the site.
Narayanpur police said that the gunfight started around 11 am in the forest along the borders of Bijapur and Narayanpur district, with around 1,000 security personnel and cops from Bastar, Narayanpur and Dantewada involved in the operation.
“A joint team of the District Reserve Guard (DRG) of Narayanpur, Bastar and Dantewada and Special Task Force (STF) was out on an anti-Naxal operation on Wednesday night after specific input of Maoists leaders of Platoon number 16 of CPI (Maoist) and members of Indrawati Area Committee. At around 11am on Thursday, an exchange of fire started. After the exchange of fire stopped, bodies of two Maoists were recovered by Narayanpur police,” said the statement.
“Two bodies were recovered by the Narayanpur police in the morning, while in the evening, Dantewada police, led by deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Rahul Uike and DSP Ashish Netam, recovered five bodies. Five weapons were also seized, but the grade of weapons is yet to be ascertained,” a police officer said.
More than 110 Maoists have been eliminated by security forces this year so far. In 2023, 22 Maoists were killed.
