Chhattisgarh News: In a significant encounter on Thursday, January 16, 2025, twelve Naxalites were killed by security forces in Bijapur district, Chhattisgarh. The clash erupted around 9 AM during an anti-Naxalite operation in a dense forest area of south Bijapur and continued intermittently until late evening, according to a senior police official.
The operation involved a joint team comprising personnel from the District Reserve Guard (DRG) of three districts, five battalions of CoBRA (Commando Battalion for Resolute Action), and the 229th battalion of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).
Preliminary reports indicate that twelve Naxalites lost their lives during the fierce gunfight, with further details pending as search operations are still ongoing in the area. Fortunately, no security personnel were reported harmed during this encounter.
The development comes mere hours after two jawans were injured in a pressure IED blast planted by Naxalites near Putkel village under the Basaguda police station area in Bijapur on Thursday morning.
This incident marks an escalation in the ongoing conflict in Chhattisgarh, where a total of twenty-six Naxalites have been neutralised in separate encounters throughout January.
On January 12, five Naxalites, including two women, were killed in an encounter with security personnel in the Madded police station area of Bijapur.
On January 11, a CRPF jawan was injured as an IED laid down by the Naxalites exploded in Bijapur.
In their biggest strike on security forces in Chhattisgarh in two years, Naxals blew up a vehicle using an improvised explosive device weighing 60 to 70 kg, killing eight security personnel and their civilian driver in Bijapur district earlier this month, police had said.
The state has witnessed a surge in operations against Naxalites, with security forces neutralising 219 Naxalites in various encounters throughout the previous year.
The recent operations underscore the continued efforts by Indian security forces to combat Naxalite insurgency in the region, which has historically been plagued by violence and instability.
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