Chhattisgarh: Security forces kill at least 12 Maoists in Bijapur

In Chhattisgarh, at least 12 Maoists have been killed in an  encounter with security forces in Bijapur district on Thursday. This encounter was going on since morning in the forests of South Bastar on the Telangana border in Bijapur district. A joint team of Central Reserve Police Force, Cobra Battalion, and District Reserve Guard was on a search operation in the jungles of South Bastar after receiving intelligence inputs about the presence of a large number of Maoists in the area. Intermittent exchanges of fire have been ongoing between the security forces and the Maoists since  morning. The Inspector General of Police of the Bastar range and the CRPF IG are monitoring the entire operation. According to the police, the Maoists have suffered a huge loss in this operation.
No harm was reported to security forces, he said. With this, 26 Maoists have been gunned down in separate encounters in the state so far this month.The Maoists have suffered a huge damage in the encounter and their casualty figure is likely to rise, the official said.The encounter spot is located around 150km from the district headquarters and the area is considered a stronghold of Maoists' battalion No. 1, their strongest military formation in the Bastar region, according to police sources.