Bhopal: At least 13 Maoists were killed by security forces in a major operation ahead of the Lok Sabha elections in Chhattisgarh. Police said the gunfight took place in a remote forest in Bijapur district on Tuesday. The exchange of fire, lasting for about eight hours, left the area fraught with tension and marked by the aftermath of battle.
Inspector General of Police, P Sundarraj, said officers have seized a large cache of rifles, machine guns, and ammunition.
"The identity of the Maoist dead bodies is yet to be established," Mr Sundarraj said, adding that three of those killed were women.
Another police official said that prima facie, it appears that the insurgents killed
"The identity of the dead Naxalites was yet to be ascertained but prima facie, it appears that they belonged to the PLGA (People's Liberation Guerrilla Army) company no. 2 of Maoists," the official said.
The operation, spearheaded by Bijapur District Reserve Guard, in collaboration with CRPF, STF, and CoBRA teams, was a concerted effort to eliminate the threat posed by the Maoists in the area. Intelligence had indicated the presence of the notorious Maoist leader, Papa Rao, prompting the security forces to launch the operation.
During the search of the encounter site, security forces recovered a substantial cache of arms and ammunition, including one LMG, one .303 bore rifle, and one 12 bore rifle, along with a significant quantity of BGL shells and launchers.
Bijapur district comes under the Bastar Lok Sabha constituency, which will go to polls in the first phase of the general elections on April 19.