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A 10 kilometer motorcycle ride through fields and dirt roads. After that, a 12 kilometer climb in the hilly area. 48 hours operation and 1500 security personnel. In this way, 31 Naxalites were eliminated in the most successful operation till date in Dantewada, Chhattisgarh.
Subodh Kumar Mishra PTI, DantewadaSat, 5 Oct 2024 10:14 AM share
A 10 kilometer motorcycle ride through fields and dirt roads. After that, a 12 kilometer climb in the hilly area. 48 hours operation and 1500 security personnel. In this way, 31 Naxalites were eliminated in the most successful operation in Dantewada, Chhattisgarh.
Officials said on Saturday that around 1,500 security personnel covered the difficult route as part of their 48-hour operation in the forest on the border of Narayanpur and Dantewada districts to crush the Maoists. This was the highest number of people killed by Maoists in a single operation since the creation of the state 24 years ago. The attack comes more than five months after 29 Naxalites, including high-ranking cadres, were killed in an encounter with security personnel in Kanker district.
Dantewada Additional Superintendent of Police RK Burman told PTI that around 1,500 personnel of the District Reserve Guard (DRG) and Special Task Force of Dantewada and Narayanpur were involved in the operation. He said the action was launched based on inputs about the presence of Maoists belonging to his Company No. 6 and East Bastar Division in the hills of Gawadi, Thulathuli, Nendur and Rengawaya villages. He said that this operation which lasted for two days proved to be the biggest successful anti-terrorist operation so far in the state.
He said that the firing between security forces and Naxalites started in the forest between Nendur and Thulathuli villages at around 1 pm on Friday and ended late in the evening. He said that bodies of 28 Naxalites were recovered from the encounter site on Friday, while three more bodies were found on Saturday. He told that the killed Naxalites were in ‘uniform’. He said reinforcement of the Central Reserve Police Force helped in the search operation and bodies of Naxalites were being brought to Dantewada. Maoist posters can be seen at some places in dense forests and hilly areas. Officials said that to enter the area considered a Naxalite stronghold, one has to cross the Indravati river at Chhindnar village, where a bridge over a kilometer long has been built.
Bastar IG P Sundarraj told PTI that the operation was started after the input. Information was received about the presence of DKSZC (Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee) members Kamlesh, Neeti, Nandu and Suresh Salam along with other senior cadres. A DRG jawan was injured when a shell from an Under Barrel Grenade Launcher (BGL) fired by the Naxalites exploded during the encounter, the official said. The IGP said a cache of weapons including an AK-47 rifle, an SLR (self-loading rifle), an INSAS rifle, an LMG rifle and a .303 rifle were also recovered from the encounter site.
The killed Naxalites include 18 men and 13 women. These include Neeti alias Urmila of DKSZC carrying a reward of Rs 25 lakh. Chief Minister Vishnu Dev Sai praised the security forces for carrying out the successful operation. Said that the ‘double engine’ government is committed to eliminate the Naxalite threat. After the latest encounter, 188 Maoists have been killed by security forces in separate encounters in the Bastar region comprising seven districts including Dantewada and Narayanpur so far this year, police said.
