29 Maoists killed in BSF-DRG joint encounter at Chhattisgarh’s Kanker ahead of polls

29 Maoists killed in BSF-DRG joint encounter at Chhattisgarh’s Kanker ahead of polls

New Delhi: Barely three days ahead of the Lok Sabha polls in Bastar, 29 Maoists were killed Tuesday in a joint operation carried out by the District Reserve Guard (DRG) and the Border Security Force (BSF) in Chhattisgarh’s Kanker district.

The gunfight began at around 2 pm in the afternoon when security personnel were scanning an area near Binagunda-Koragutta  jungles of Chhottebetiya police station area, the police said in a statement, adding that three security personnel were injured but their condition was stable,

The bodies of the 29 cadres were recovered from the encounter site, it said.

Security personnel also found a large cache of  AK 47, INSAS, .303 rifles, SLRs, carbines along with ammunition from the encounter spot.  They were combing the area till the last reports came in the evening.

Earlier in the day, Inspector General of Police, Bastar, P. Sunddaraj told news agency ANI, that a thorough identification of the bodies would tell if any top insurgent had died.

#WATCH | “Bodies of 18 naxals recovered from encounter site in Chhotebethiya of Kanker. 3 jawans were injured in the operation. Search operation underway. This can be seen as one of the biggest anti-naxal operations in the area. The operation was launched after information of the… pic.twitter.com/mI0IuW8KfI

— ANI (@ANI) April 16, 2024

Meanwhile, NDTV quoted senior police inspector Kalyan Elesela as saying that Maoist leader Shankar Rao was among the rebels killed. Rao apparently had a bounty of Rs 25 lakh on his head.

The IG said the police got information about the movement of top Maoist leaders like Shankar, Lalita and Raju in the north Bastar area Tuesday and launched a search operation, which was followed by the encounter.