Bijapur, India, March 20 – Indian security forces killed at least 22 Maoist insurgents in two separate encounters in the central state of Chhattisgarh on Thursday, officials said, marking a significant offensive against the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist).
Eighteen insurgents were killed in Bijapur district, while four others were gunned down in Kanker by a joint team of the Border Security Force (BSF) and the District Reserve Guard (DRG) of the state police, officials said.
A police officer was also killed in the Bijapur operation, authorities confirmed.
India’s federal home minister Amit Shah said the latest operation represented a major success in the government’s ongoing efforts to eliminate left-wing extremism from the country.
“The Modi government is taking a tough stand against Naxalites, maintaining a zero-tolerance policy towards those refusing to surrender despite rehabilitation offers. India will be Naxal-free by March 31 next year,” Shah said in a post on social media platform X.
The Bijapur encounter took place around 7 a.m. in a forested area along the Bijapur-Dantewada district border when security forces were conducting an anti-Maoist operation, a senior police official said. Security personnel recovered firearms and explosives from the site, he added.
In the Kanker district, a separate gun battle erupted in a forest bordering Narayanpur, leading to the deaths of four insurgents, said Indira Kalyan Elesela, superintendent of police in Kanker. Automatic weapons were seized from the scene, he added.
Search operations were ongoing in both locations, police said.
With the latest encounters, security forces have killed 105 Maoists in Chhattisgarh this year, of whom 89 were eliminated in the insurgency-hit Bastar region, which includes Bijapur and Kanker.
India has been battling Maoist insurgents for decades, with the rebels claiming to fight for the rights of indigenous tribes and landless farmers. The government has intensified operations against the group, which it regards as the country’s most serious internal security threat.
