12 CPI (Maoist) Cadres Killed In Clash With Security Personnel In Bijapur District

Bijapur District, May 11, 2024: Twelve cadres of the CPI (Maoist) were gunned down in an encounter with security personnel in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur district on Friday, a police official announced to the press today.

The skirmish broke out at around 6 a.m. in the forest near Pidia, located over 450 km away from State capital Raipur, the police official declared.

The search operation leading to the gun battle was launched based on intelligence inputs about the presence of commander of PLGA (People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army) company No. 2 of the CPI (Maoist), Vella, and Gagaloor area committee secretary, Dinesh Modiyam, along with 100 to 150 armed cadres of the Maoist party in the forest, the police official said.

Personnel belonging to the District Reserve Guard (DRG) from Bijapur, Dantewada and Sukma districts, Bastar Fighters, Special Task Force (STF), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and its elite unit CoBRA (Commando Battalion for Resolute Action) were involved in the operation, the police official stated.

After the guns fell silent, the bodies of 12 Maoists were recovered from the site of the firefight, the police official commented, adding their identity was yet to be ascertained.

A barrel grenade launcher (BGL), a 12 bore gun, a country made rifle, BGL shells, a huge cache of explosives, Maoist uniforms, bags, medicines and Maoist publicity materials and literature were seized from the gunfight site, the police official remarked.

Two security personnel were also injured in an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast triggered by Maoists during the operation.

The two security personnel injured in the IED blast triggered by Maoists during the operation were shifted to a local hospital and will be airlifted to Raipur for further treatment, the police official informed.

A search operation in the area was still underway, the police official concluded.

Source : https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/naxalites-killed-in-chhattisgarhs-bastar-region/article68161852.ece