RAIPUR: A fierce encounter broke out between security forces and Maoists in insurgency-hit Sukma of Bastar, Chhattisgarh, on Thursday, four days after an IED blast killed eight jawans and their driver in neighbouring Bijapur.
Troops from the District Reserve Guard, Special Task Force and CoBRA set out on the operation on the border of Sukma and Bijapur on specific inputs about the presence of Maoists. Intermittent firing was on when this report was filed.
Deputy CM Vijay Sharma said on Thursday that three Maoists had been killed. “Search operations are on.” Nine Maoists have been neutralised within the first nine days of the year. Sharma said in Raipur that security forces have carried out a “successful anti-Naxalite operation” in the forests of Sukma. There was a lot of anguish among jawans after the Jan 6 Maoist IED blast in Bijapur, he added.
Hours after the IED blast in Bijapur on Monday, Amit Shah had reiterated his vow to eliminate Maoist insurgency from the country by March 2026.
