At least 29 Maoists were killed in an encounter with security personnel in Chhattisgarh's Kanker district, police said on Tuesday.
Acting on specific intelligence inputs, the BSF in conjunction with the District Reserve Guard (DRG) launched a joint operation in the Binagunda area under the jurisdiction of Chotebetiya police station in Kanker, the central police force said in a statement.
During the operation, the BSF team came under heavy fire from the insurgents. The BSF troops retaliated against the attackers, resulting in a fierce exchange of gunfire.
After the encounter subsided, a thorough search of the area was conducted in which 29 bodies of Maoist insurgents were recovered.
Superintendent of Police, Kanker, Kalyan Elesela initially confirmed the death of eight Maoists saying the number could increase as the combing operation was underway. Police later said that the bodies of 29 Maoists had been recovered from the encounter site. Seven AK series rifles and three Light Machine Guns (LMGs) have also been seized from the scene of the operation.
Three security personnel also sustained injuries in the gunfight but were out of danger.
The development comes days before Chhattisgarh starts polling for Lok Sabha elections. Only Bastar Lok Sabha constituency will vote in the first phase of polling on April 19, while Kanker, where the encounter broke out on Tuesday, will vote along with Rajnandgaon and Mahasamund in the second phase on April 26.
Since December 2023, 68 Maoists have been killed in separate encounters with security forces in the Bastar region comprising seven districts, including Kanker. A total of 70 encounters between Maoists and security forces took place in 2023, in which 22 Maoists were killed, as per government records. A total of 394 Maoists were also arrested by the security forces during the period.
