Raipur/Bijapur: In two separate encounters, after a fierce gun battle, joint security forces eliminated 30 armed members of banned CPI Maoists in the dense forest areas of Bijapur-Dantewada and Kanker, Bastar Police claimed on Thursday.
One intense gunfight occurred in the border areas of Bijapur-Dantewada under the Gangaloor Police Station limits. In this incident police claimed, it eliminated 26 armed Naxals.
As per the information received, the anti-insurgent operation reportedly began early Thursday morning hours and continued for the day with intermittent gunfire between security personnel and the insurgents.
Bijapur Superintendent of Police Jitendra Kumar Yadav told media, the encounter broke out in the early hours when a joint team of security forces, including personnel from the District Reserve Guard (DRG), Special Task Force (STF), and other units, launched a search operation based on intelligence inputs about Naxalite presence in the region. “Operations are ongoing in the Bijapur-Dantewada border area since early morning. The encounter continues, and the bodies of 18 Naxalites have been recovered so far,” he said.
Home Minister Vijay Sharma while interacting with the media in Chhattisgarh Vidhan Sabha informed 18 Naxals killed in the encounter. He also said, one jawan Raju Ayami also laid his life while fighting with the Naxals.
Along with the bodies of Naxals police teams also recovered huge caches of arms, ammunition, and daily use materials including automatic, and semi-automatic firearms and crude bombs.
Later on Bastar Range IG Sundarraj P, informed media that on the concrete intel input of gathering of big Naxal leaders of West Mad Division, DKSZ and State Committee in the jungles of Andri in the bordering areas of Bijapur-Dantewada, a joint party of DRG (Bijapur-Dantewada) were dispatched and the encounter held in the jungles of Bijapur while the security forces were cordoning off the area. In the fierce encounter, 26 Naxals were killed, out of which 22 bodies recovered. One jawan was also martyred in the gun battle. Search operations are still underway once the police party reaches the district headquarters more information will be shared, he said.
He also confirmed that in another encounter which was held in the jungles of Kanker, a joint party of BSF and DRG killed 4 Naxals.
However, these operations mark one of the deadliest clashes in the region this year, reflecting the intensified efforts by security forces to curb Naxal insurgency in Chhattisgarh. The forest area, known for its rugged terrain and dense cover, has long been a stronghold for Naxalite groups.
This encounter follows a series of high-profile operations in Bijapur in 2025, including a February 9 clash in the Indravati National Park area where 31 Naxalites and two security personnel were killed. Earlier this month, on March 7, security forces demolished a Naxal memorial in Bijapur, signaling a sustained crackdown in the region.
After, the Union Home Minister Amit Shah publicly vowed to eradicate Naxalism by March 31, 2026. Security forces escalated anti-insurgent operations including mass surrenders, arrests and killings of Naxals in Bastar.
