IN A fresh offensive against Naxals, security forces killed at least 30 members of the banned CPI (Maoists) in two separate encounters in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar region on Thursday, officials said. While 26 Naxalites were killed in Bijapur district, four Maoists were gunned down in Kanker by a joint team of the BSF and District Reserve Guard (DRG) personnel of the State Police. A police jawan was also killed in the encounter in Bijapur, the officials said.

 

An official said a gunfight broke out around 7 am in a forest along the border of Bijapur and Dantewada districts when a joint team of security personnel was out an anti-Naxalite operation in Gangaloor police station area in Bijapur. The bodies of 26 Naxalites besides firearms and explosives were recovered from the spot, Inspector General of Police, Bastar Range Sundarraj P told PTI.

 

A jawan of the DRG unit was also killed in the gunfight, he said. Another encountertook place in the morning in a forest along the border of Kanker and Narayanpur districts when a joint team of the DRG and Border Security Force (BSF) was out on an anti-Naxal operation, Kanker Superintendent of Police Indira Kalyan Elesela said. The bodies of four Naxalites and automatic weapons were recovered following the action,he said. Searchoperationswere underway at both the encounter sites, police said. With the latest action, 113 Naxalites have been killed in encounters in the state so far this year. Of them, 97 wereeliminatedintheBastardivisioncomprisingsevendistrictsincluding Bijapur and Kanker.