At least Five Jawans Killed in Gunfight With Naxals in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur, 9 Maoists Dead
At least five jawans were killed in an encounter with Naxals in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur district, sources said, adding that 20 others have been injured.
According to Chhattisgarh Director General of Police DM Awasthi, the encounter broke out in the forests of Silegar in the Tarem area on the Sukma-Bijapur border when a joint team of security forces was out on an anti-Naxal operation.
Bastar Inspector General P Sundarraj told ANI that as per initial information, at least nine more Naxals have been killed and around 15 others were injured in the encounter.
“We will need more time to confirm this. As per our estimates, there were 250 Naxalites there,” he said.
The body of a woman Naxal has also been found at the encounter site, said DIG (Naxal Operations) OP Pal.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi condoled the deaths of the jawans. “My thoughts are with the families of those martyred while fighting Maoists in Chhattisgarh. The sacrifices of the brave martyrs will never be forgotten. May the injured recover at the earliest,” he said in a tweet.
Currently, nearly 400 jawans of the STF, DRG, CRPF and the COBRA forces are deployed for anti-Naxal operation in Bijapur.
On March 23, five DRG personnel were killed when Naxals blew up a bus carrying the security personnel with an IED in Narayanpur district.
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