Chhattisgarh: Three Maoists killed during anti-naxal operations in Sukma, Bijapur

Chhattisgarh Police on Saturday said three Maoists were killed in two anti-naxal operations by the security forces in Sukma and Bijapur districts of the Bastar region of the state. Weapons, a cache of explosives and Maoist-related materials were recovered from both the encounter spots, Hindustan Times reported.

Chhattisgarh Police said the identities of the three Maoists killed during the anti-naxal operations are yet to be ascertained.

The first incident took place this morning in Sukma district near Belpochcha village when a joint team of security personnel was out on an anti-naxal operation, Superintendent of Police, Sukma, Kiran Chavan said.

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“The operation was launched on Friday night based on inputs about a gathering of Maoists in the forests of Belpochcha, Jinetong and Uskawaya villages in view of their bandh call on May 26,” Hindustan Times quoted Sukma as saying.

“When the patrolling team was near Belpochcha, an exchange of fire broke out between the two sides. After guns fell silent, the body of a Maoist, a weapon, a cache of explosives and Maoist-related materials were recovered from the spot,” Chavan added.

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It is important to note that Maoists gave a bandh call on May 26 in the Bastar region in protest against the alleged fake encounters.

Second Encounter

According to Chhattisgarh Police the second encounter took place in a forest area of Bijapur district. 

The Bijapur police, in a statement, said two Maoists were killed by security forces in the jungles of Jammemarka and Kamkanaar village during an anti-naxal operation.

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“An anti-naxal operation was carried out on Saturday following the input of presence of senior Maoists leaders including supply-in-change of West Bastar Division of CPI (Maoist), Pandru, along with other 15 Maoists camping in the jungles. A team of the district reserve guard (DRG) reached close to their camp and a firing started. When the guns fell silent, two bodies of Maoists were recovered,” the statement said.

“The bodies of the deceased are yet to be identified,” it said, 

The Bijapur police said forces are still in the jungle, and the search operation is ongoing.

 With these incidents, 116 Maoists have been killed so far this year in separate encounters with security forces in Chhattisgarh, which is much higher than the figure in 2023, when only 22 Maoists were killed.

On Thursday, seven Maoists were killed in an encounter with security personnel on the Narayanpur-Bijapur inter-district border.

Separately, DD News today reported that 33 Maoists surrendered before the DIG of CRPF and Superintendent of Police in the Bijapur district of Bastar division. On surrendering, they were given an amount of ₹25,000 each as an incentive under the surrender and rehabilitation policy of the state government