30 Maoists, 1 jawan killed in 2 encounters in Chhattisgarh

In Thursday’s encounters, 26 Maoists were killed in Bijapur district and four in Kanker — both in the Maoist-affected Bastar region.

The first encounter broke out at 7 am near Andri village while security forces were undertaking an operation based on intelligence inputs indicating the presence of Maoists in the jungles under the jurisdiction of the Gangaloor police station in Bijapur, near the border with Dantewada district.

A joint team of Bijapur and Sukma DRG, the Special Task Force (STF), Bastar Fighters, and CRPF jawans undertook the operation.

The encounter involved intermittent firing for hours, said Sundarraj P, Inspector General of Police for Bastar Range. A Bijapur DRG jawan was killed in the firing. “We have recovered explosives and weapons. Search operations are ongoing,” the officer said.

Automatic rifles like AK47, self-loading rifles (SLR), and INSAS were recovered along with .303 rifles, indigenously made rocket launchers, barrel grenade launchers, and other explosives.

The jawan killed in the encounter was identified as Raju Oyam of the Bijapur DRG. He was from Bodga village in Bijapur.

Vivekanand Sinha, Additional Director General (Naxal Operations), told The Indian Express that the area where the encounter took place was one of the most Maoist-influenced areas of the state and that a lot of Maoist recruitment was also carried out from there.

“Several IEDs and spikes are planted (in the area) by Maoists to stop the forces from coming in. Further, walking for several kilometres in the hilly terrain in the hot weather was an uphill task, but the jawans showed great courage and bravery,” he said.

In another encounter, which took place in Kanker, four Maoists were killed in the jungle area near the border with Narayanpur district.

“Acting on information of (the presence of) Maoists in the area, a joint team of DRG from Kanker district and Border Security Force (BSF) left for an operation,” said Kanker SP I Kalyan Elesela.

The encounter broke out near Koroskodo village under Chhotebethiya police station at around 8 am, said police. An SLR was among the weapons recovered from the four Maoists killed in the gunfight, they said.

Meanwhile, in yet another incident early Thursday, an IED believed to be planted by Maoists was triggered at around 3 am when security forces were taking part in an ongoing operation in the jungles of Abujhmad in Narayanpur district.

“Due to the blast, dust went into the eyes of a jawan and an officer. Both have been evacuated and are safe,” an officer said. According to officials, there were no casualties, and the operations are ongoing.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah had set a deadline of March 2026 to eradicate Left Wing Extremism (LWE) from the country. In August last year, during a visit to Chhattisgarh, Shah had told the media that a “ruthless strategy” would be used to eliminate Maoism from Chhattisgarh.

After Thursday’s encounters, Shah wrote on X, “The (Narendra) Modi government is moving forward with a ruthless approach against Naxalites and is adopting a zero-tolerance policy against those Naxalites who are not surrendering despite all the facilities being offered to them, ranging from surrender to inclusion. The country is going to be Naxal-free by March 31 next year.”

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo wrote in a post on X, “The end of cruel, autocratic Naxalism is justified. Bastar will be free of fear by 2026, this is certain…. Strengthening the resolve of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Honourable Union Home Minister Amit Shah to eliminate Naxalism from the state and country by March 2026, security forces are continuously achieving success and moving rapidly towards that target. This success achieved by the soldiers is commendable. I salute their courage and indomitable bravery.”