At least 14 Maoists were killed in an encounter with Chhattisgarh Police in Gariaband district at state's border with Odisha on Tuesday, news agencies ANI and PTI quoted police as saying. The tally includes two women Maoists who were killed on Monday in the operation.
A Maoist carrying a bounty of ₹1 crore was also killed in the encounter, police said, adding that encounter is ongoing.
The number of Maoist casualties may increase, reports said.
A day two women Maoists were killed and one CoBRA jawan was injured in the encounter during the same operation, fresh exchange of fire took place late on Monday night and early Tuesday morning in a forest under the Mainpur police station area along the Chhattisgarh-Odisha border, officials cited in a news agency PTI report said, adding that 12 more Maoists were killed.
The official said a joint team of security personnel from the District Reserve Guard (DRG), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), CoBRA from Chhattisgarh and Special Operation Group (SOG) from Odisha were involved in the operation.
The official said the operation was launched on the night of January 19 based on intelligence about the presence of Maoists in the Kularighat reserve forest of Chhattisgarh, just 5 km from the border of Odisha's Nuapada district.
Two women Maoists were neutralised during the operation on Monday, and a large cache of firearms, ammunition and IEDs, including a self-loading rifle, were recovered from the encounter site, the official said.
The crackdown on Maoists is part of central government's pledge to “end Naxalism” by 2026, a vow that Union Home Minister Amit Shah reiterated when eight District Reserve Guard (DRG) jawans and one driver lost their lives after their vehicle was blown up by Naxals using an IED in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur on January 6.
The blast reportedly took place on the Bedre-Kutru Road in Bijapur district.
The jawans of DRG Dantewada, were returning in a Scorpio after a joint operation, the IG said. The joint operation was of Dantewada, Narayanpur and Bijapur, IG Bastar added.
The Maoist attack on DRG, a unit of the state police, was the biggest strike on security personnel by Naxalites in the last two years, PTI quoted an official. On April 26, 2023, ten police personnel and a civilian driver were killed after Naxals blew up their vehicle, which was part of a convoy carrying security personnel in neighbouring Dantewada district.
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