29 Naxals killed in biggest encounter ever in Chhattisgarh; this year's toll in Bastar now 79

Kanker: Ahead of the first phase of polling in Chhattisgarh, security personnel gunned down 29 Naxalites, including some senior cadres, in Kanker district on Tuesday in the biggest encounter ever in the state, police said.

This was the highest fatalities suffered by Naxalites in a single encounter in the history of the state's fight against Left Wing Extremism.

Since the start of 2024, as many as 79 Naxalites have been killed in separate gun-battles with security forces in the Bastar region, a Maoist stronghold.

Three security personnel also suffered injuries in the fierce gun-battle and a large quantity of weapons was recovered from the spot, officials said.

The latest gunfight took place at around 2 pm in Hapatola forest between Binagunda and Koronar villages under Chhotebethiya police station limits, when a joint team of the Border Security Force (BSF) and the state police's District Reserve Guard (DRG) was out on an antiNaxal operation, Inspector General of Police (Bastar Range) Sundarraj P said.

The operation was launched based on inputs about the presence of senior cadres of the outlawed CPI (Maoist), he said.

During patrolling in the area, a fierce gun-battle broke out between the two sides, the senior IPS officer said.

"Bodies of 29 Maoists along with a huge cache of weapons, including AK-47, SLR, Insas and .303 rifles, were recovered,'' he said. (PTI)