Chhattisgarh’s ‘Maad Bachao Abhiyan’, a campaign to reclaim the Maoist citadel of Abujhmad aka Maad, notched another success early Thursday when security forces shot dead seven members of the banned CPI (Maoist) in a gun battle that lasted over seven hours in a dense forest. Police said the encounter began around 3 am in Rekawaya area in south Abujhmad after a large contingent of security forces, comprising personnel of the District Reserve Guard (DRG) from Kondagaon, Bastar, Narayanpur and Dantewada districts along with the state’s Special Task Force (STF) and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), reached the area following information about the presence of the Maoists. According to police, the seven whose bodies were recovered were in the uniform of the People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA), the armed wing of the banned CPI (Maoist). Sources claimed that the operation lasted three days, with security forces “crossing the deep Indravati river and walking for 25-35 km through dense forest cover” before arriving at the encounter site. They were allegedly acting on specific information on the presence of Maoists in the area. The police have no presence around the encounter spot, with the closest police station being Bhairamgarh - about 25 km south. According to the police, intermittent firing continued for hours, "They fired from their automatic weapons and also fired Barrel Grenade Launchers on our forces," said Superintendent of Police, Dantewada district, Gaurav Rai. No jawans were hurt in the encounter and Maoists fled towards north of Maad. This year, security forces have carried out massive operations in Abujhmad under the ‘Maad Bachao Abhiyan (Save Maad Campaign)’ and more than 100 Maoists have been killed in and around Maad. In October, 31 Maoists were killed in a major encounter in south Abujhmad and a huge cache of weapons was recovered along with their bodies. Inspector General of Police for Bastar range, Sundarraj P said” "This year, because of better coordination and strategic planning of local police and the central paramilitary forces, we have been able to neutralise 217 Maoists from December 13 last year till date," he said. This is the highest Maoists casualty since Chhattisgarh's formation in 2000. Meanwhile, 69 villagers have also been killed in Naxal violence, most of them for being “police informers”, government data shows. Eighteen security personnel have also been killed in the violence.
