31 Maoists Killed in Bijapur, 2 Jawans Lose Lives in Encounter

31 Maoists Killed in Bijapur, 2 Jawans Lose Lives in Encounter

Thirty-one Naxalites were killed and two security personnel were shot dead in a fierce battle on Sunday morning in the Bijapur district forests, which fall under the Bastar division in Chhattisgarh.

Bijapur is the same area where eight security personnel and a civilian driver were killed in an IED explosion in the first week of January, followed by the death of eight Maoists in an anti-Naxalite operation in the last week of January. Two soldiers were also injured in the ongoing firefighting in the Bijapur forests.

A police officer confirmed that thirty-one Maoist bodies were found, along with a variety of weapons and explosives, as intermittent firing was on. A joint team of security forces, including District Reserve Guards, Special Task Force, and Bastar Fighters, had launched an anti-Naxalite operation in the Indravati National Park area after they received information about a massive concentration of high-level cadres.

A gunfight broke out in the early hours of Sunday in the forest between the Maoists and the security forces, and thirty-one Maoists were killed by late afternoon. Security forces recovered weapons, including AK-47s, SLRs, INSAS rifles,.303 rifles, BGL launchers, and explosives.

The forces also lost two soldiers in the encounter, while two others who were injured were airlifted for treatment. Officials stated that the injured soldiers are stable and will be shifted to a more sophisticated medical center for further treatment. Additional forces have been deployed to the encounter site, and search operations are underway.

Following these latest fatalities, the total Naxal fatalities for the year stand at 81, and more than 260 Maoists have been killed in different encounters in the Bastar division in 2024. This encounter may be one of the most notable encounters, with police records suggesting that 31 Naxals were killed last year in Thulthuli forests in Narayanpur district, a defeat that the Maoists subsequently claimed, acknowledging a loss of 38 cadres in that engagement.