Chhattisgarh: Fierce gunfight on in Abujhmarh; 5 Maoist killed

RAIPUR: Security forces in Bastar have opened ‘Operation Monsoon Prahar’ this year with a major operation, involving 1,000 troops, in Abujhmarh area of Narayanpur district, the heartland of Maoist insurgency in Bastar.
After sporadic gunfights on Monday, there was a nearly day-long encounter on Tuesday in which several Maoists were shot and a large cache of arms and ammunition was seized, say police.
Till evening, five bodies had been recovered and the toll may go up as the gunbattle was still raging, police said on Tuesday night. This is the same area where a policeman’s brother was kidnapped and murdered on Monday.
As many as 137 Maoists have been gunned down this year in Bastar division, dealing a crushing blow to the insurgents.
For the past couple of years, security forces have been launching anti-Maoist ops even in monsoon, penetrating their strongholds at a time when the insurgents believed heavy rain, overflowing streams and treacherous jungle terrain would force police to stay put in their barracks.
This, the first monsoon operation of 2024, was launched on Sunday and involved security personnel from four insurgency-hit districts of Bastar — Kanker, Bastar, Dantewada and Kondagaon. Teams of District Reserve Guards, Special Task Force, BSF and ITBP converged from multiple directions upon a deeply forested area close to the Maharashtra border, around 80km from Narayanpur district headquarters.
Gunfights erupted on Monday in short bursts, almost like a buildup to Tuesday’s big clash.
Bastar range IG P Sundarraj told TOI that Maoists laid an ambush for security forces in the forests of Kohkameta in Abujhmarh on Tuesday morning. The forces fought back fiercely. It took a few hours for them to break the ambush, after which they took the fight to the Maoists and dominated them, said the IG.
Till darkness fell on the battle zone, the bodies of five Maoist had been recovered, said police, adding that there were reports of many more being hit. The exact body count will be known when forces return to base, an officer said, adding that there was no injury so far among the jawans.