Raipur: Twelve Maoists were killed in a fierce encounter with security forces in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur district on Thursday.
According to a senior police official, the gunfight broke out at around 9 am in a forest located in south Bijapur, reported PTI.
A joint team, comprising personnel belonging to the state police’s District Reserve Guard (DRG) from three districts, five battalions of CoBRA (Commando Battalion for Resolute Action – an elite jungle warfare unit of the CRPF) and the 229th battalion of CRPF, was involved in the anti-Maoist operation.
The intermittent exchange of fire lasted till late in the evening.
“As per preliminary information, 12 Naxalites were killed in the gunfight. Further details are awaited as a search operation is still underway in the area,” the official informed, adding that security forces were unharmed.
Halfway through January, 26 Maoists have been gunned down in Chhattisgarh so far this month.
On January 12, five Maoists, including two women, were killed in an encounter with security personnel in the Madded police station area of Bijapur district.
In 2023, the total number of Maoists neutralised by security forces in multiple encounters in the state was 219.
