31 suspected Maoists, 2 jawans killed in Bijapur encounter
RAIPUR: In an encounter in Bijapur, Chhattisgarh, 31 suspected Maoists and 2 jawans were killed. The operation involved multiple security forces.
RAIPUR: At least 31 suspected Maoists and two jawans were killed on Sunday in an encounter with security personnel in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur district on Sunday, police said, adding two jawans were injured during the encounter.
The encounter took place inside the forest in the Indravati National Park area around 8.30 am, according to Sunderaj P, inspector general of police (IGP), Bastar range.
“After the firing stopped, we found 31 bodies, and the combing operation is still ongoing. Two injured Jawans were taken to a hospital and are stable now,” said the IG.
He added that intermittent exchanges of fire were still taking place, and more details were awaited.
In a joint operation by the District Reserve Guard (DRG), Special Task Force (STF), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), and its elite unit CoBRA (Commando Battalion for Resolute Action), eight suspected Maoists were killed in a gunfight in Bijapur district on February 1. However, two days later, a human rights group demanded a judicial probe into the deaths of eight persons, alleging that a joint team of security forces killed innocent villagers in a staged encounter.
On January 20, security forces gunned down 16 suspected Maoists in the jungle bordering Odisha. A central committee member and senior Maoists were killed in the encounter.
On January 16, 12 suspected Maoists were killed in an encounter with security personnel in Bijapur district. Later, the Maoists released a statement claiming that 18 cadres had been killed in the January 16 gunfight.
Police said that last year, security forces neutralized 219 Maoists in separate encounters across the state.
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