Bastar : The operation was launched late on Friday evening by the District Reserve Guard (DRG) Sukma from Palodi and Potakpalli areas under Kistaram police station limits. Security forces neutralised 12 Naxal cadres during the exchange of fire. Among those killed was Mangdu, secretary of the Konta Area Committee. The identification of the remaining slain Naxalites is yet to be established.
Automatic weapons, including AK-47 and INSAS rifles, were recovered from the encounter site. Officials said the operation was continuously monitored by Sukma Superintendent of Police Kiran Chavan. Further details are awaited. Earlier in the day, two Naxalites were killed in a separate encounter with security personnel in Bijapur district, police said. The gun battle broke out around 5 am in a forested area in the southern part of the district when a team of the District Reserve Guard, a unit of the Chhattisgarh Police, launched an anti-Naxalite operation based on inputs.
As many as 285 Naxalites were killed in separate encounters with security forces in Chhattisgarh last year. Of these, 257 were eliminated in the Bastar division, which comprises seven districts including Bijapur, while 27 others were killed in Gariaband district in the Raipur division. There has been no report of any security personnel sustaining injuries in the gun battle and further details are awaited.
Sukma and Bijapur remain among the most Maoist-affected districts in Bastar division and were earlier considered epicentres of left-wing extremism in south Chhattisgarh. Officials said 2025 proved to be a decisive year for Bastar Range, with 256 Maoists neutralised and around 1,650 surrendering to join the mainstream. Union Home Minister Amit Shah has earlier declared that India will be free of Maoist violence by March 31, 2026.
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