29 CPI (Maoist) Cadres Killed In Massive Clash With Security Forces In Kanker District

Kanker District, April 16, 2024: At least 29 Maoists were killed in a fierce battle with security forces along the Kanker-Narayanpur district border in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar Region on April 16. Three senior cadres of the Communist Party of India (Maoist) are suspected to be among the deceased. Three security personnel also sustained injuries in the gun battle, a police official announced to the press today.

The operation by a joint team of the Kanker District Reserve Guard (DRG) and the Border Security Force (BSF) against the Maoists took place in a forested area which falls under the Chhottebetiya police station area of Kanker, the police official declared.

The security forces were sent to the spot after a tip-off was received about the presence of senior Divisional Committee (DVC) members of the CPI (Maoist).

A BSF statement issued earlier said that the anti-Maoist operation was launched late in the evening of April 15 by the DRG and BSF, based on various intelligence inputs of Maoists’ movement in Binagunda and adjoining areas. “We shared five inputs, including two inputs giving exact location (one input with GR also) of the North Bastar DVC Maoists in the Binagunda area, underlining the fact that it has acted as a permanent camp of the Maoists since April,” the statement added.

“During the searching operation, there was an encounter between the security forces and the Maoist cadres. During the searches so far, 29 dead bodies of Maoist cadres have been recovered,” Inspector General of Police (Bastar Range) P. Sundarraj commented later in the evening, adding that searches were still ongoing.

Mr. Sundarraj said that the operation had been launched after receiving information about the presence of North Bastar and Abujhmad Committee division committee members such as Shankar, Lalita, Raju and others, but noted that the police would be able to confirm names and profiles only after the identification of the bodies. In an 8:30 p.m. statement, he said it would take another two to three hours to move all bodies to the nearest base camp.

Based on the number of casualties inflicted, the State police have been quoted as saying that this is possibly the “biggest encounter ever” in Chhattisgarh.

Source : https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/encounter-breaks-out-between-police-naxals-in-kanker-chhattisgarh/article68071744.ece