NEW DELHI, Oct 4: In one of the biggest operations against Maoists in Chhattisgarh, security personnel killed at least 36 Maoists in a forest in a fierce encounter in the Bastar region in Chhattisgarh on Friday, a senior police official said.
The gunfight broke out at around 1 p.m. in the forest between Thulthuli and Nendur villages in Abujmarh on the Narayanpur-Dantewada inter-district border, when a joint team of security personnel was out on anti-Maoist operation, Inspector-General of Police (Bastar Range) P Sundarraj said.
Personnel belonging to the State police’s District Reserve Guard (DRG) and Special Task Force (STF) began the anti-Maoist operation on Thursday and contact happened around 1 PM on Friday, sources said adding the encounter was still going on. Several assault rifles including AK series and other weapons have been recovered, sources said.
Following intelligence reports of a large Maoist presence, separate teams in the joint operation were sent to villages in Govel, Nendur and Thulthuli under Orcha and Barsur police stations. They launched combing operations in these villages.
The encounter broke out at noon today in the forests near Nendur-Thulthuli. Using extreme caution, the security forces are pursuing a few remaining Maoists who have retreated deeper into the forest, sources said. This encounter marks one of the biggest successes for the security forces in their fight against the Maoist insurgency in Chhattisgarh.
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo said it was a big operation and congratulated the security forces. “Naxalism is taking its last breath… Naxalism is certainly going to be eliminated from the state… Union Home Minister Amit Shah has visited the state twice in nine months regarding this and he has resolved to end Naxalism by March 2026,” Mr Deo said.
After the latest encounter, 185 Maoists have been gunned down by security forces in separate gun battles in the Bastar region comprising seven districts, including Dantewada and Narayanpur, so far this year, police said. On April 16, as many 29 Maoists including some higher ranking cadres were killed in an encounter with security personnel in Kanker district.
(Manas Dasgupta)