Around 31 suspected Maoist militants from the banned CPI (Maoist) were killed in an alleged encounter with security forces on Sunday in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur district, about 400 km south of Raipur, police said.
Two security personnel—one from the state police’s District Reserve Guard and the other from the Special Task Force—were also killed, while two others were injured in the gunfight that took place in a forest in the Indravati National Park area.
Inspector General of Police Sundarraj P confirmed that 31 Naxalites, including 11 women, had been killed. “Besides, a huge cache of weapons, including AK-47s, INSAS rifles, SLRs, Barrel Grenade Launchers (BGL), and explosives, has also been seized from the scene,” he said.
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai hailed the encounter, stating, “From Gantantra to Republic.”
“This success of the soldiers is commendable; I salute their bravery. The sad news has been received that two soldiers were martyred and two were injured in the encounter. I pray to God for peace for the souls of the martyred soldiers, strength for the bereaved families, and a speedy recovery for the injured soldiers,” he added.
He claimed that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, “our state will be free from Naxalism by March 2026.”
Union Home Minister Amit Shah described the killing as a “big success,” reaffirming, “I also reiterate my resolve that before 31 March 2026, we will completely eradicate Naxalism from the country so that no citizen has to lose their life due to it.”
The CPI (ML) Mass Line (Praja Pandha) Telangana State Committee has urged civil society to condemn what it termed “unabated encounters” in the name of ‘Operation Kagar’—the Indian state’s intensified attempt to extinguish Maoism.
Earlier, on February 1, eight Maoists were killed in an encounter in the same Bijapur district.
The series of encounters against Adivasis remains part of the renewed strategy to free Chhattisgarh from Maoist influence.
These illegal and extra-judicial killings reveal failings in the criminal justice system, disproportionately affecting Dalits and Adivasis, say critics.
A judicial inquiry report released in 2021 on the killing of eight persons, including four minors, in Edesmetta in Bijapur district, concluded that none of those killed were Maoists, as was alleged at the time. The report highlighted the killing of unarmed Adivasis and raised concerns about human rights violations.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government, led by Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai, has been on an aggressive offensive against Maoists since coming to power in December 2023.
In the last thirteen months, 282 Naxalites have been killed in the state, 1,033 have been arrested, and 925 have surrendered, according to Deo.
 were killed in an encounter with security forces on Sunday in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur district, about 400 km south of Raipur, police said.){kind=link}