Security Forces Clash with Maoists in Chhattisgarh’s Sukma, 16 Killed

In a major operation, sixteen Maoists were killed, and two jawans were injured in a clash with security forces in the Upampalli Kerlapal forests near the Sukma-Dantewada border.

An official said gunfire erupted early in the morning in a forest under Kerlapal police station, where a joint security team was conducting an anti-Naxalite operation.

The operation began on Friday night after intelligence reports of Maoists in the Kerlapal area. It involved personnel from the District Reserve Guard (DRG) and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).

The official confirmed that sixteen Naxalites' bodies have been recovered from the site of the encounter so far, while the operation is still ongoing. Two security personnel sustained minor injuries during the clash.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah reaffirmed the government’s commitment to eliminate Naxalism by March 2026 and urged armed groups to embrace peace and development instead of violence.   

Shah wrote on X that, “Another strike on Naxalism! Our security agencies have neutralised 16 Naxalites and recovered a massive cache of automatic weapons in an operation in Sukma. Under the leadership of PM Shri @narendramodi Ji, we are resolved to eradicate Naxalism before the 31st of March 2026. My appeal to those with arms is that weapons and violence cannot bring change; only peace and development can.”

In February, a gunfight in the jungles of Indravati National Park in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur district, where 31 Maoists were killed and two security personnel were injured. It was the largest ambush on left-wing extremists this year, raising the 2025 death toll to 81.

Inspector General of Police (Bastar Range), Sunderraj P., said that the strike resulted from an anti-Maoist operation led by security forces on Friday, culminating in an encounter around 8 a.m. He added that the operation was based on specific intelligence about insurgents from the National Park Area Committee of the CPI (Maoist).