At least 12 Maoists were killed and two security personnel injured on Friday in a fierce encounter that lasted over eight hours in the jungles of Bijapur, Chhattisgarh, delivering a blow to the rebels in their core zone in the Bastar region, which is also used by their top leaders to escape into the neighbouring states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. The encounter is a sign of the continued push of security forces to take on insurgents, with the number of Maoists killed exceeding 100 already this year, thrice as much as 2023’s full-year tally.
Officials said the encounter took place in a forest near Pedia village, which falls under Gangaloor police station, about 10km away from where security forces killed thirteen Maoists on April 2. It was carried out by a joint team of around 800 state police personnel, including the District Reserve Guard (DRG), special task force (STF), and Bastariya Batallion, as well as Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and its elite guerrilla unit Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (COBRA). The operation was planned after an intelligence input indicated the presence of a prominent Maoist leader in the forests of Pedia.
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“We have information that 12 bodies of Maoists have been recovered so far from the encounter site and a combing operation is still going on,” said deputy inspector general of police (south Bastar) Kamalochan Kashyap.
The encounter took place three days after polling for all 11 Lok Sabha seats in Chhattisgarh ended on May 7.
“The operation was planned following an intelligence input of a prominent Maoist leader located in the forests of Pedia, approximately 55km from the district headquarters of Bijapur. A fierce encounter started with the Maoists around 9am after they fired at the security personnel. The encounter ended around 5pm,” Kashyap said.
He added that the combing operation was still underway in the area and efforts were on to bring the bodies of the Maoists to the nearest security camp. Police also recovered at least 12 weapons from the encounter site, including a Barrel Grenade Launcher (BGL) launcher, a 12 bore rifle and multiple muzzle-loading rifles. The two security personnel who were injured have been shifted to Bijapur district hospital.
A senior police officer said the area is a core zone of Maoists in the Bastar region and is also part of an escape route used by top rebel leaders to escape from Chhattisgarh to Telangana and Andhra Pradesh during times of increased pressure from security forces. “There was specific information about the presence of a senior commander after which a security team was sent. We will know whether a senior Maoist was killed once the identity is established most likely on Saturday,” the officer said.
Friday’s encounter is part of a clear uptick in aggression from security forces in Bastar in south Chhattisgarh since December 2023 when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power in the state. At least 103 Maoists have been killed till May 10 this year alone, more than the 22 and 30 killed in all of 2022 and 2023, respectively. In the biggest anti-Maoist operation in recent decades, the security forced killed 29 rebels in Kanker district on April 16.
The operations have benefited from an infrastructure push since December last year that has seen the creation of 17 new forward camps in what are considered core Maoist-controlled areas. The camps have multifold benefits, officers have said. They have eased civilian outreach in these areas, allowed forces to react more quickly to intelligence inputs because they need less time to reach encounter spots, and facilitated easier intelligence gathering.
On April 22, Union home minister Amit Shah said that under Prime Minister Modi’s leadership a systematic campaign to end Maoism had taken place. At an election rally in Jharkhand on Friday, Shah said the BJP government at the Centre was conducting a “decisive” fight to end Maoism in the country.
But there have been repercussions of the new aggression on the ground. Across Chhattisgarh, 21 civilians have been killed by Maoists already in 2024 compared to 41 killed in all of 2023. Three of the civilians killed this year have been politicians associated with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Deputy chief minister and state home minister Vijay Sharma on Friday confirmed the encounter was carried out by a team of state police and central forces in the jungles of Pedia and warned that the rebels must lay down arms.
“In the last month, a series of encounters was carried out by security forces. We are ready for talks with Maoists and we want the youths to put down their arms and take part in development activities. If the Maoists do not lay down their arms, they will be removed from Bastar,” Sharma said.
Experts believe that the continuous encounter in the deep jungles of Bastar will definitely impact the ability of Maoists to recruit more people.
“Pedia was once a hotbed of Maoists in Bastar. Senior leaders of Maoists used to conduct meetings in the Pidia jungle. Security forces conducting an operation in that jungle is a big achievement. I believe that these encounters will surely have an adverse impact on the recruitment drive of Maoists,” said RK Vij, former director general of police in Chhattisgarh.
