At least seven Naxals were killed in an encounter with District Reserve Group (DRG) personnel along the inter-district border of Narayanpur, Dantewada, and Kondagaon, a senior police official reported. "Weapons have been recovered. Operation is underway," stated Narayanpur Superintendent of Police Prabhat Kumar. Seven Naxal bodies were recovered from the site of the encounter, he confirmed.
Three Jawans of the Narayanpur DRG sustained injuries during the Friday night encounter and were airlifted to a hospital from the Gobel area under the East Bastar Division. The joint team, comprising DRG personnel from Narayanpur, Kondagaon, Dantewada, and Jagdalpur, along with the 45th Battalion of ITBP, was conducting an anti-Maoist operation in the Abujhmad area when they came under fire from Maoists, prompting a swift retaliation, according to police sources.
This incident follows the recent burning of a mobile tower by Naxalites in Durmi village, Narayanpur district, on June 2. Additionally, on May 25, two Naxalites were killed in an encounter with security forces in the forests of Jappemarka and Kamkanar in Bijapur.
Naxalism has posed a persistent challenge in Chhattisgarh, with the region's dense forests and rugged terrain providing a favorable environment for Naxal groups to establish bases and operate. In a May interview with ANI, Union Home Minister Amit Shah stated that decisive steps have been taken to address Naxalism, predicting that the issue will be eradicated within the next two to three years.
Shah highlighted the efforts of the BJP-led government in extending welfare schemes to tribal areas previously deprived of them. He noted that states like Jharkhand, Bihar, Telangana, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Maharashtra are now free of Naxal influence, with the problem persisting in only a few districts of Chhattisgarh.
"I think that in the next 2-3 years, the country will be completely free of the Naxal issue. After the BJP government came to power in Chhattisgarh, within just 4.5 months, 112 Naxals have been neutralized, around 375 have surrendered, and 153 have been arrested... On the contrary, Congress says that fake encounters are being done," Shah remarked.
