Bijapur

Seven Maoists were killed on Wednesday during a gunfight that erupted amid a major anti-Naxal operation along the Bijapur–Dantewada border in the Bastar region, officials said.

Bijapur Superintendent of Police Jitendra Yadav reported that security forces from multiple units—including the District Reserve Guard (DRG) teams of Dantewada and Bijapur, the Special Task Force (STF), the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), and the CoBRA unit—had launched a coordinated search in the West Bastar Division when firing broke out around 9 AM.

According to Bastar Range Inspector General of Police Sundarraj P, bodies of seven Maoist fighters were recovered from the encounter site. Security personnel also seized several weapons, including SLRs and .303 rifles. Efforts are underway to establish the identities of the deceased.

Three members of the DRG, among them Head Constable Monu Vadadi and Constable Dukaru Gonde, lost their lives in the operation. Two other DRG personnel, including Somdev Yadav, suffered injuries. Officials stated that Yadav is currently stable and receiving medical care.

Additional forces have been deployed, and the area has been secured as operations continue.

In a related development, the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) has completed a year-long strategic advance into the dense Abujhmad forests—an area once considered impenetrable and a key corridor for Naxal movement. The initiative has effectively closed what was believed to be the last major interstate passage used by Maoist groups.

The latest achievement came on November 28 with the establishment of the Lanka Company Operating Base (COB), situated about 135 km from Narayanpur. This is the ninth new camp built by the ITBP and Chhattisgarh Police in under three months, marking a decisive push along the Orchha–Lanka axis, historically a stronghold for Naxal insurgents.

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Jointly manned by the ITBP’s 44th Battalion, the Chhattisgarh Police, and the DRG, the Lanka COB sits just three kilometres from the Maharashtra border. Its location blocks a critical supply and transit route that once linked Maoist-affected zones in Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli, Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur, and adjoining regions of Telangana.