4 Maoists, 1 cop die in Chhattisgarh gunfight

Four Maoists and a Chhattisgarh Police head constable were killed in a gunfight in Abujhmad forest, marking the second encounter this year.

Four Maoists and a head constable of the Chhattisgarh Police were killed in a gunfight in the Abujhmad forest area, officers said on Sunday, in what was the second encounter between security forces and the extremists in the restive region this year.

A CRPF unit during an area domination patrol in October 2013. (HT Photo)

The latest encounter took place on Saturday evening in the dense forests of South Abujhmad, near the border of Narayanpur and Dantewada districts. Police said the deceased Maoists were yet to be identified. A police person, District Reserve Guard (DRG) head constable Sannu Karam, was also killed during the encounter, Dantewada superintendent of police Gaurav Rai said.

He said that a joint team of security personnel comprising the DRG and Special Task Force from Narayanpur, Dantewada, Kondagaon and Bastar districts, launched an operation on Saturday evening following specific inputs about the presence of extremists. Following the gunfight, security forces recovered the bodies of the four deceased Maoists along with automatic weapons, including an AK47 rifle and a self-loading rifle (SLR), from the encounter site.

Chief minister Vishnu Deo Sai said on Sunday that the fight to end Maoism in Chhattisgarh will continue.

“So far, there is news of four Naxalites being killed in an encounter between security forces and Naxalites in the south Abujhmaad region bordering Narayanpur and Dantewada districts,” Sai said in a post on X.

“DRG head constable Sannu Karam was also martyred in the encounter. His sacrifice will not go in vain. Security forces have been fighting very strongly against Naxalism and the fight will continue till the menace is eliminated,” he added.

The latest encounter happened two days after security forces gunned down a Maoist in the Gariaband district, in the Raipur division, on January 3. Gariaband SP Nikhil Rakhecha had said that the encounter took place in the Sornamal forest area, about 100km from the state capital Raipur.

Abujhmad straddles Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh and is known as an “unknown hill”, as the 6,000sqkm of thick forest has not been surveyed since the British era. The jungle is the epicentre of Maoist activities and about a dozen senior cadres of CPI (Maoist) are said to still be camping there.

In December, at least seven suspected Maoists were killed in a joint operation by the security forces, including DRG, STF, and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in Abujhmad jungles.

Last year,219 Maoists were neutralised by security forces in separate encounters in the state. Of these, the most killings occurred in Bijapur — 61. In December senior Maoist leader Prabhakar alias Balmuri Narayan Rao, who is a member of the Special Zone Committee of the banned CPI (Maoist), was arrested by Chhattisgarh Police.

During a visit to Chhattisgarh in December last year, Union home minister Amit Shah reiterated the Centre’s commitment of eliminating Left-wing extremism from the country by March 31, 2026.

Shah had outlined the government’s approach, focusing on three main strategies: encouraging Maoist rebels to surrender, arresting those involved in violence, and taking firm action against those continuing to threaten lives. “Those who choose the path of violence will be dealt with in their own language... we will completely eradicate Naxalism from Chhattisgarh before March 31, 2026,” Shah had said.