On Tuesday (2nd April), thirteen Naxal terrorists including a woman were reportedly killed in an encounter with security personnel in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur. The information was confirmed by Bastar IG P Sundarraj who announced that multiple encounters were led by DRG, CRPF, STF, and Cobra Jawans in the area resulting in the deaths of 13 Naxalites in total so far.
Earlier in the day, only 10 dead bodies of the Naxals were recovered. However, on Wednesday (3rd April) morning, 3 more dead bodies were recovered.
“Today, a team of DRG, CRPF, STF, and Cobra Jawans were dispatched on the information of the presence of Naxalites under Gangloor police station of Bijapur district. Several encounters took place and so far the bodies of a total of 10 Naxalites have been recovered, including a female Naxalite. Weapons have been recovered from them,” IG Bastar said on Tuesday.
“Weapons recovered so far one LMG, one .303 rifle, one 12 bore, a huge number of BGL launchers, AK 47 and BGL shells plus other arms and ammunition. Identification of dead bodies has yet to be done. Most probably, they are cadres of PLGA Coy No 02,” he added.
The encounter broke out around 6 am on Tuesday at Lendra village in Bijapur following a joint search operation by the District Reserve Group (DRG), Special Task Force (STF), CoBRA (Commando Battalion for Resolute Action), and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) that began on Monday (1st April) night from the Gangalur police station area.
As per the reports, the operation began when the authorities were tipped off about the whereabouts of a senior naxal nicknamed Papa Rao. Rao has a bounty of almost Rs 40 lakh. It is believed that Papa Rao has also been eliminated in the encounter however, no confirmation regarding the same has been obtained.
The encounter occurs just days before the Lok Sabha elections. The Bastar Lok Sabha seat will go to the polls in the first phase on 19th April.
The Naxalites’ Tactical Counter Offensive Campaign (TCOC) begins in March and intensifies their activities thereafter. Between March and June, there were many attacks on security forces in the Bastar region. Six Naxalites were killed last month during an engagement with security troops in Bijapur’s Basaguda district.