29 NAXALS KILLED AHEAD OF POLLS IN CHHATTISGARH

Biggest encounter ever in the state | Toll in Bastar rises to 79

Ahead of the first phase of polling in Chhattisgarh, security personnel gunned down 29 Naxalites, including some senior cadres, in Kanker district on Tuesday in the biggest encounter ever in the state, police said.

This was the highest fatalities suffered by Naxalites in a single encounter in the history of the state's fight against Left Wing Extremism. Since the start of 2024, as many as 79 Naxalites have been killed in separate gun-battles with security forces in the Bastar region, a Maoist stronghold.

Three security personnel also suffered injuries in the fierce gun-battle and a large quantity of weapons was recovered from the spot, officials said.

Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sharma, who holds the home portfolio, hailed the encounter as a "surgical strike" and a major success, and asserted credit for it goes to brave security personnel.

The latest gunfight took place at around 2 pm in Hapatola forest between Binagunda and Koronar villages under Chhotebethiya police station limits, when a joint team of the Border Security Force (BSF) and the state police's District Reserve Guard (DRG) was out on an anti-Naxal operation, Inspector General of Police (Bastar Range) Sundarraj P said.

The operation was launched based on inputs about the presence of senior cadres of north Bastar division of the outlawed CPI (Maoist) Shankar, Lalita, Raju and others, he said.