Nine Naxalites were killed in an encounter with security forces in Chhattisgarh's Bastar region on Tuesday, according to a senior police official. The gunfight occurred around 10:30 am in the forest along the Dantewada and Bijapur district border, during an anti-Naxal operation conducted by a joint team of security personnel, Inspector General of Police, Bastar Range Sundarraj P, informed PTI.
Personnel belonging to the District Reserve Guard (DRG) and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) were involved in the operation, which was launched based on inputs about the presence of Naxalites belonging to its west Bastar division unit, he said.
The intermittent exchange of fire lasted for an extended period, after which the bodies of nine uniformed Naxalites were recovered from the scene, he said. Additionally, a large cache of weapons was seized from the encounter site. He confirmed that the security personnel were unharmed and that the search operation in the area was still ongoing.
With this incident, 154 Naxalites have been gunned down by the security forces in different encounters in Chhattisgarh so far this year, the police said