6 Maoists gunned down in encounter at Indravati National Park

The National Park is spread across 2,799 square km and is located in north Bijapur. A portion of it remains one of the few hideouts left for Maoists in the Bastar region, which had once been a stronghold of the rebels.

At least 50 Maoists, including the six killed on Tuesday, have been gunned down by security forces inside Indravati National Park in a series of encounters since January this year.

The national park is connected to Abujhmad, an unsurveyed area larger than Goa, which had been a safe haven for Maoists for four decades. Since 2024, over 100 Maoists from Abujhmad have been killed, and nearly 300 have surrendered, with authorities now saying the area is now almost clear of the rebels’ presence.

In July, Maoists killed two shiksa doot (contractual teachers) in the Indravati National Park, suspecting them of being police informers. In August, a 39-year-old District Reserve Guard (DRG) jawan was killed and three others were injured in an improvised explosive device (IED) blast in the national park.

Tuesday’s encounter broke out at 10 am, and intermittent firing has been going on for hours. Acting on intelligence inputs regarding the presence of Maoists in the national park area, a joint operation was undertaken by DRG teams from Bijapur and Dantewada districts, along with the Special Task Force (STF).

Bijapur Superintendent of Police Jitendra Yadav said, “We have recovered weapons, including INSAS [rifle], Sten gun, .303 rifle, other weapons, explosive material, and Maoist-related materials from the encounter site.”

Additional teams of personnel from the DRG, STF, Bastar Fighters, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), and Chhattisgarh Armed Police Force have been dispatched to the surrounding areas to cordon off other fleeing Maoist cadres.

“Since the operation is still ongoing, the location of the encounter, the number of security personnel involved in the operation, and other sensitive information cannot be shared at this time to ensure the safety of the personnel engaged in the operation. A detailed report will be shared separately after the completion of the campaign,” said IG Sundarraj.