In a fresh offensive against Naxals, security forces gunned down at least 30 members of the banned CPI (Maoists) in two separate encounters in Chhattisgarh's Bastar region on Thursday, officials said.
While 26 Naxalites were killed in Bijapur district, four Maoists were gunned down in Kanker by a joint team of the BSF and District Reserve Guard (DRG) personnel of the state police.
DRG jawan Raju was also killed in the encounter in Bijapur, the officials said.
IG Sundarraj said, "Operations were conducted today in various areas of the Bastar district. In the Bijapur-Dantewada border region, we have recovered the bodies of 26 Naxalites."
"A large number of AK-47 rifles, as well as automatic and semi-automatic weapons, have also been seized. One personnel of the Bijapur District Reserve Guard (DRG) lost his life during the encounter," he said.
In the first encounter, the exchange of fire began around 7 AM in the dense forested area under Gangaloor police station limits, where security personnel launched an intensive combing operation.
Meanwhile, four more insurgents were killed near Koroskodo village in the Chhotebethiya police station area, close to the Kanker-Narayanpur border, in a separate engagement with security forces.
The intermittent gunfire continued, as police recovered arms and ammunition from the site.
The situation at the Bijapur-Dantewada and Kanker-Narayanpur borders remains tense as security forces continue their search operations.
Chhattisgarh Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sharma confirmed that security forces had retrieved the bodies of slain Maoists and expressed condolences for the fallen DRG jawan.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah said the security forces have achieved another big success in their march to make the country Naxal-free with the two encounters.
"The Modi government is moving forward with a ruthless approach against Naxalites and is adopting a zero tolerance policy against those Naxalites who are not surrendering despite all the facilities being offered to them, ranging from surrender to inclusion. The country is going to be Naxal-free by March 31 next year," Shah wrote on X in Hindi.
The latest encounters come amid an intensified crackdown on the Maoist insurgency in Chhattisgarh. In February, security forces arrested 18 Naxalites and seized explosives from them during an operation in three different locations in Bijapur district.
With the latest action, 113 Naxalites have been killed in encounters in the state so far this year. Of them, 97 were eliminated in the Bastar division comprising seven districts including Bijapur and Kanker.
Additionally, 17 insurgents surrendered last week before authorities in Bijapur, marking a shift in the ongoing security campaign.
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