3 cops, 12 Naxals killed in Chhattisgarh encounter

Twelve Naxalites, including a dreaded Maoist commander, and three personnel of the District Reserve Guard (DRG), a specialised unit of the state police, were killed in a fierce encounter in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur district on Wednesday, officials said.

Two other DRG jawans suffered injuries in the gunfight, they said, adding the anti-Naxal operation was still underway in the district.

The gunfight broke out in a forest along the border of Bijapur-Dantewada districts when a joint team of security personnel was out on an anti-Naxal operation, IGP (Bastar Range) Sundarraj Pattilingam said.

So far, bodies of 12 Naxalites have been recovered from the encounter spot. One of them has been identified as Modiyam Vella, while the identity of the remaining dead cadres was yet to be ascertained, he added.

With the latest action by security forces, 275 Naxalites have been killed in encounters in Chhattisgarh so far this year, said officials.