Achi news desk-
According to the police, three security personnel have been injured in the operation – File: Photo / AFP
Chhattisgarh: 29 Maoist rebels were killed in clashes with security forces in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh.
As reported by AFP news agency, Chhattisgarh has been under tension for a long time and the deaths in clashes with security forces are among the bloodiest incidents in the state.
The clash between security forces and Maoist rebels took place on the outskirts of Chhattisgarh state, where there have been several bloody operations with Maoist fighters this year.
All 29 Maoists were killed in the Kankir district of Chhattisgarh, south of Raipur state.
According to reports, security has been beefed up in Chhattisgarh ahead of India’s long-running general elections, which began on Friday.
Confirming the death toll, Regional Police Chief IK Alisela said the operation against the insurgents was carried out jointly by the Paramilitary Border Security Force and the police.
He said that a BSF officer and a Kankir police officer were injured in the operation and a large number of weapons including automatic firearms were recovered from the possession of the insurgents.
Earlier, IK Alisila had said that Shankar Rao, the commander of the rebels, was also among the dead, whose head has been set at $300,000.
The BSF said in a statement that the operation was launched on Monday following a tip-off about Maoist movement in Banaganda village.
The Inspector General of Police in the state’s Bastar district, Sandraj Patilingam, told AFP that three government forces were injured in the operation, but their condition was stable.
It should be noted that the fighters against the Indian government in Chhattisgarh are called Naxal rebels and they claim that they are fighting for the betterment of the people of the suburbs and poor areas and that their operations have been going on since 1967.
The clash with Maoist rebels in Chhattisgarh is the second such operation this month, after 13 rebels were killed on April 2.
According to police data, 80 Maoists have been killed in the state so far this year.
India has deployed thousands of security personnel to fight Maoist rebels in the heartland of the ‘Red Corridor’, which stretches across central, southern and eastern states where Indian government forces have suffered the worst attacks in years.
