Chhattisgarh: Toll rises to 31; highest suffered by Maoists in single operation in 24 yrs

Dantewada, Oct 5 (PTI) The bodies of three more Naxalites were recovered on Saturday morning in Chhattisgarh's Bastar region, where a fierce encounter with security personnel took place a day ago, police said.

With this, the number of Naxalites killed in the gun battle with the security personnel on Friday has risen to 31, they said, adding that a search operation is still underway in the area.

"Bodies of three more Naxalites were recovered this morning from the dense forest where the encounter took place on Friday," Inspector General of Police (Bastar range) Sundarraj P told PTI.

"With this, the toll of Naxalites in the encounter rose to 31. The identity of the Naxalites is yet to be ascertained, but prima facie it appears that they belonged to PLGA (People's Liberation Guerilla Army) company No. 6, Platoon 16 of Maoists and east Bastar division of Maoists," he said.

On Friday, the gunfight broke out between security forces and Naxalites around 1 am in a forest between Nendur and Thulthuli villages on Dantewada and Narayanpur inter-district border, where a joint team of District Reserve Guard (DRG) and Special Task Force (STF) was out on an anti-Naxal operation.

The intermittent firing lasted for a long time and the security forces continued search operations in the area.

This is the highest number of fatalities suffered by Maoists in a single operation since the creation of the state 24 years ago and the offensive comes more than five months after 29 Naxalites, including higher-ranking cadres, were gunned down in an encounter with security personnel in Kanker district.

A jawan of the state police's DRG sustained injuries in a blast in a shell of Under Barrel Grenade Launcher (BGL) ired by Maoists during the gunfight, the official said.

Along with the bodies, a cache of weapons, including an AK-47 rifle, one SLR (self-loading rifle), one INSAS rifle, one LMG rifle and one .303 rifle were also recovered from the encounter spot, the IGP said.

Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai, who assumed office in December last year, hailed the security forces for carrying out a successful operation, and said the 'double engine' government (BJP government in the state and at the Centre) is determined to eliminate the Naxal menace.

With this latest encounter, 188 Maoists have been gunned down by the security forces in separate gun battles in the Bastar region comprising seven districts, including Dantewada and Narayanpur, so far this year, police said.

On April 16, as many as 29 Naxalites, including some higher-ranking cadres, were killed in an encounter with security personnel in Kanker. PTI