Regrettably, eight Naxalites and a lone security operative met their demise, while two additional members of the Special Task Force (STF) sustained injuries during a confrontation in Narayanpur district of Chhattisgarh on the previous Saturday, as relayed by law enforcement authorities.
Sources appended that a security agent participating in the anti-Naxal mission succumbed to wounds amidst the skirmish. According to police insiders, an armed altercation erupted at dawn within the Abhujmad woods, where security personnel hailing from four jurisdictions – Narayanpur, Kanker, Dantewada, and Kondagaon – engaged in a customary sweep against Naxal insurgents.
Addressing journalists, Bastar Inspector General Sundarraj P articulated that the collective anti-Naxal undertaking transpired in Kutul, Farasbeda, and Kodtameta precincts within Abujhmad of Narayanpur district, commencing from June 14 onwards. He disclosed that task forces comprising the Special Task Force, District Reserve Guard, and the 53rd Battalion of the Indo Tibetan Border Police from Narayanpur, Kondagaon, Dantewada, and Kanker were integrated into the task force.
An additional informant conveyed that the confrontation persists, with anticipation that certain Naxals, who are subjects of substantial bounties, might have been among the deceased.
Upon cessation of hostilities, the remains of eight Naxalites were retrieved from the scene alongside an Insas firearm, a .303 rifle, a barrel grenade launcher (BGL), and assorted armaments and Maoist-affiliated paraphernalia, as per an official statement. “A trooper of the STF made the ultimate sacrifice, while two others suffered injuries,” he remarked.
The wounded troopers were transported to a nearby medical facility and are slated for airlift to Raipur for further medical intervention, he added. Law enforcement authorities indicated that a total of 131 Naxalites have perished in separate engagements with security personnel across the Bastar division, encompassing Kanker, Kondagaon, Narayanpur, Bastar, Bijapur, Dantewada, and Sukma districts, thus far this year.
On June 5, six Naxalites were eliminated in an encounter in Narayanpur, while seven Naxalites met their demise on the Narayanpur-Bijapur border on May 23. A minimum of 12 Naxalites succumbed in a confrontation in Bijapur on May 10, and 10 insurgents, including three females, were neutralized along the boundary of Narayanpur and Kanker districts on April 30. On April 16, 29 Naxalites were terminated in an engagement with security forces in Kanker district, they delineated.