Bastar Inspector General P. Sundarraj addresses a press conference and confirms the killing of 9 Naxals in an encounter with security forces at Dantewada district in Bastar, Chhattisgarh on September 3, 2024.
| Photo Credit: PTI
Nine Naxalites were killed in an encounter with security personnel in Bastar region of Chhattisgarh on Tuesday (September 3, 2024), a senior police official said.
The gunfight broke out around 10.30 a.m. in the forest along the border of Dantewada and Bijapur districts when a joint team of security forces was out on an anti-Naxal operation, Inspector General of Police, Bastar Range P. Sundarraj told PTI.
Personnel belonging to the District Reserve Guard (DRG) and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) were involved in the operation, which was launched based on inputs about the presence of Naxalites belonging to its west Bastar division unit, he said.
The intermittent exchange of fire lasted for a long duration, following which the bodies of nine Naxalites clad in ‘uniform’ were recovered from the spot, he said.
Besides, a huge cache of weapons was also seized from the encounter site, he said.
Security personnel were reported to be safe and the search operation was still underway in the area, he added.
Bastar region comprises seven districts, including Dantewada and Bijapur.
With this incident, 154 Naxalites have been gunned down by the security forces in different encounters in Chhattisgarh so far this year, the police said.
13 Naxalites held
Meanwhile, thirteen Naxalites were arrested from two places in Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh, police said Tuesday (September 3, 2024).
Of them, seven were apprehended from an area under Gangaloor police station limits on Sunday (September 1, 2024), while six others from a place located within the jurisdiction of Tarrem police station on Monday (September 2, 2024), a police official said.
Joint teams of District Reserve Guard (DRG), Special Task Force (STF) and 202nd battalion of CoBRA (Commando Battalion for Resolute Action- an elite unit of CRPF) were involved in the two operations, he said.
The arrested cadres, all male, are aged between 20 years and 55 years, he said.
Detonators, electric wire, iron spikes, bows, arrows and batteries and iron spikes were recovered from the possession of those held from Tarrem, while Maoists pamphlets and publicity materials were seized from others, he said.
With these arrests, more than 600 Naxalites have been arrested so far this year in Bastar division comprising seven districts, including Bijapur.
