28 Maoists shot dead by security forces in forests of Chhattisgarh

The STF and DRG are specialised forces to target Left Wing Extremism in Chhattisgarh.

On the operation that began Thursday afternoon, a senior police officer told The Indian Express, “We had information on the presence of 50-odd Maoists in the area from the East Bastar division of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoists) and Company No. 6 of their armed wing, People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA).”

The intelligence input indicated that top-ranking Maoists, such as Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee member Kamlesh and PLGA commander Nandu, were among those in the area.

Teams set out for the operation from different police camps.

A day later, on Friday afternoon, the encounter took place in the “forest area around three villages, Govel, Nendur and Tultuli, around 40 kilometres from Dantewada headquarters”, said Dantewada Superintendent of Police Gaurav Rai. The three villages fall in the Abujhmad region.

About the size of Goa, Abujhmad is considered a Maoist stronghold. Security forces claim to have recovered 50 per cent, or around 4,000 square kilometres, of the area from Maoists in various operations.

ADGP (Naxal Operations) Vivekanand Sinha said the security forces went into an area that was considered a safe haven for Maoists. “Our forces crossed the Indravati river and the encounter took place on the other side, where there are no police camps… Maoists considered north of the Indravati as a safe haven and they had influence over a vast area covering Kondagaon, Bastar and Dantewada districts,” he said.

The terrain made the operation more challenging. “Due to the monsoon, the jungle area was muddy and had dense bushes. The hilly terrain and low visibility made the task even more challenging. Also, the forces left boot marks. Maoists could take advantage of these factors to attack us,” the ADGP said.

An official statement said the bodies of 28 Maoists have been found and three-four more bodies could possibly be found from the site of the encounter.

Weapons, including an LMG rifle, an AK-47 rifle, an SLR, an INSAS rifle, and a .303 rifle, were recovered from the site.

One DRG jawan suffered an injury and was evacuated.

Friday’s encounter takes the number of Maoists killed this year to 185, the highest in Chhattisgarh’s history. The number is approaching the total number of Maoists killed in the five years between 2019 and 2023, which is 206.

This year has also seen the killing of 15 security personnel and 47 civilians in Maoist-related violence.

Another major encounter took place this April, when 29 Maoists were killed in Kanker, bordering Abujhmad.

On Friday’s encounter, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai said “this major achievement by our brave soldiers is commendable”.

“Our fight to eliminate Naxalism will only end when we achieve complete success, and for this, our double-engine government is fully committed. The eradication of Naxalism from the state is our ultimate goal,” he said.

A meeting of Chief Ministers and Home Ministers of Naxal-affected states, chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, is scheduled to be held in New Delhi on October 7. Speaking in Raipur in August, Shah had declared that the last fight with Maoists is near and it will be “ruthless”. He had also said the country will be free of Left Wing Extremism by March 2026.