Bijapur (Chhattisgarh): In the wake of the deadly Maoist attack in Chhattisgarh's Bastar region that claimed the lives of 22 security personnel, Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Sunday said the morale of jawans is high and the operation against Naxals will continue.
After the shocking incident, Home Minister Amit Shah cancelled his political campaign in Assam and returned to Delhi to hold a high-level meeting to review the current situation in Chhatisgarh. The meeting was attended by the Director of IB, Home Secretary, CRPF, and senior officials of the Ministry of Home Affairs. At the same time, Amit Shah spoke to CM Bhupesh Baghel over the Maoist attack and assured the state government to help at every provide help from the centre.
The bodies of the Jawans who sacrificed their lives in the attack are being shifted to their respective villages.
12 Naxals are also believed to have died in the fierce gunbattle.
What happened in Chhattisgarh?
An encounter broke out between security forces and Naxals along the Sukma-Bijapur border in Chhattisgarh on Saturday after a party of jawans was ambushed by Maoists near Jonnaguda village around noon. The forces were scattered and trapped along a two-km long stretch of forest area.
This comes nearly a week after the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) took three Naxals into custody for planting explosives to target security forces in Sukma.
Nearly two weeks ago five personnel of the District Reserve Guard (DRG) were killed and several injured in an IED blast, the first major Maoist attack in Chhattisgarh this year in Narayanpur.
(Bijapur: An overturned truck which was allegedly blown up by Maoist rebels following an encounter with the security forces personnel, at a village in Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh, Sunday, April, 4, 2021. PTI Photo)
Amit Shah to meet senior security officials in Chhattisgarh today
Union Home Minister Amit Shah will reach Jagdalpur Airport at 10:40 am and will head to police lines to pay tributes to the martyred soldiers. Shah will then proceed to Bijapur and hold a meeting with senior officers of the security forces to review the security arrangements in the region.
Shah will then visit the CRPF camp in Maoist-affected Basaguda and then meet the injured soldiers in Raipur, post which he will head back to Delhi at 5:30 pm.
Soon after his return from Assam, the home minister on Sunday had held a high-level meeting to review the security situation in Chhattisgarh.
Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla, Intelligence Bureau Director Arvind Kumar and senior officials of the home ministry and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) attended the meeting, a home ministry official said, reported PTI.