Raipur, 2 April

In a major anti-insurgency operation, nine Naxalites were killed in an encounter with security personnel in Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh on Tuesday, police said.

Bijapur district comes under the Bastar Lok Sabha constituency, which will go to polls in the first phase of general elections on 19 April. The gunfight took place around 6am in a forest near Lendra village under Gangaloor police station area, when a joint team of security personnel was out on an anti-Naxal operation, Inspector General of Police (Bastar Range) Sundarraj P told PTI.

After the exchange of fire stopped, bodies of four Naxalites were recovered from the spot along with a light machine gun, barrel grenade launchers and other arms and ammunitions, he said.

Later, five more bodies were found at the encounter site, the IG said, adding that search operation was still underway in the area.

Personnel belonging to the District Reserve Guard, Special Task Force, Central Reserve Police Force and its elite unit Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA) were involved in the operation, he said.

Notably, Naxalites carry out the Tactical Counter Offensive Campaign (TCOC) in the summer season between March and June every year and step up their activities. A large number of attacks on security forces have taken place in the Bastar region during this period.

On 27 March, six Naxalites were killed in an encounter with security forces in Basaguda area of Bijapur, police earlier said. With the latest incident, 42 Naxalites have been killed so far this year in separate encounters with security forces in Bastar region, comprising seven districts including Bijapur, according to police.