‘Success towards building Naxal-free Bharat’: Amit Shah lauds encounter of 14 Maoists in Chhattisgarh

Another mighty blow to Naxalism. Our security forces achieved major success towards building a Naxal-free Bharat. The CRPF, SoG Odisha, and Chhattisgarh Police neutralised 14 Naxalites in a joint operation along the Odisha-Chhattisgarh border. With our resolve for a Naxal-free…

— Amit Shah (@AmitShah) January 21, 2025

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“With our resolve for a Naxal-free India and joint efforts of security forces, Naxalism is breathing its last today,” he said.

An official said the Maoists were killed in a fresh exchange of fire that took place late Monday and early Tuesday morning in a forest under the Mainpur police station area along the Chhattisgarh-Odisha border.

Amit Shah’s statement comes after a fresh exchange of fire took place on late Monday and early Tuesday between the security forces and Maoists along the Chhattisgarh-Odisha border, taking the total encounter death toll to 14.

On Monday night, two women Maoists were killed and a CoBRA jawan was injured, while 12 more Maoists were killed on Tuesday morning.

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 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 Naxalites 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.

(With inputs from PTI)