Chhattisgarh: 30 suspected Maoists killed in two separate gunfights with security forces

Thirty suspected Maoists and one security personnel were killed in two separate gunfights in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur and Kanker districts, the Hindustan Times reported on Thursday.

Sundarraj P, the inspector general of police for Bastar Range, said that 26 bodies of suspected Maoists were recovered from Bijapur. The gunfight there began at 7 am near the border between Bijapur and Dantewada districts.

One member of the Bijapur District Reserve Guard, identified as Raju Oyami, lost his life in the gunfight, the newspaper quoted Sundarraj as saying.

In the Kanker and Narayanpur border areas, four suspected Maoists were killed in a gunfight near the Koroskodo village in the Chhotebethiya police station area, ANI quoted Sundarraj as saying. The gunfight was still underway, he said, adding that a cache of weapons was recovered from the area.

Search operations were underway in both areas, the police officers said.

Earlier on Thursday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that security forces had killed 22 Maoists in the two separate operations.

“The [Narendra] 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 ranging from surrender to inclusion,” he said on social media. “The country is going to be Naxal-free before 31 March next year.”

In August too, Shah said that Maoism would...

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