12 Naxalites killed in encounter with security forces in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur; 2 security personnel martyred

Security operation leads to major encounter in Indravati National Park

Twelve Naxalites were killed in an encounter with security forces in Chhattisgarh‘s Bijapur district on Sunday, according to the police. The Bastar police confirmed that a search operation is still ongoing in the region.

The gunfight occurred in the dense forests within the Indravati National Park area when a team of security personnel was conducting an anti-Naxalite operation. A senior police official said that intermittent firing was still underway, and further details were awaited.

Casualties on both sides in the clash

Two security personnel also lost their lives in the encounter, while two others sustained injuries. The operation involved a joint team of personnel from different security forces engaged in counterinsurgency efforts against the Naxalites in the region.

Panchayat poll candidate hacked to death by Naxalites in Dantewada

In a separate incident, a former sarpanch contesting the upcoming panchayat elections in Dantewada district was brutally killed by Naxalites.

The victim, identified as 52-year-old Joga Barse, was attacked at his residence in Aranpur village. A group of unidentified assailants stormed his house and hacked him to death with an axe in front of his family members, a police official confirmed.

After receiving information, a team from the Aranpur police station rushed to the location and sent the body for post-mortem. While no Maoist pamphlets were recovered from the scene, initial investigations suggest that Naxalites were behind the killing.

Barse had previously served as the sarpanch and was contesting for the same post in the upcoming panchayat elections, scheduled to be held in three phases on February 17, 20, and 23.

Rising Naxal violence in Bastar region

The killing of Joga Barse was not an isolated incident. On February 4, another man was hacked to death by Naxalites in the same Aranpur area. A night before, two more men were killed by Naxalites in the neighboring Bijapur district. Among the victims was a former associate of the Naxalites.

Last month, a 41-year-old man was also murdered by Naxalites in Bijapur’s Bhairamgarh area on suspicion of leaking information about the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist).

According to police reports, at least 68 civilians have been killed in separate incidents of Naxal violence in the Bastar region in 2024. The region, comprising seven districts including Bijapur, remains one of the most affected areas by left-wing extremism.

For further updates on the ongoing search operations and security measures, authorities are closely monitoring the situation.

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