A Naxal was killed in an encounter with security personnel in Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh on Tuesday. A gun battle took place around 6 AM  in a forest area under Gangaloor police station while a joint team of security personnel was conducting an anti-Naxal operation, a senior police officer was quoted as saying by news agency PTI. 


After the exchange of fire stopped, the body of the Naxal and his weapon were recovered from the location. The cops added that a search operation was launched for more naxals in the area.


With this incident, 34 Naxalites have been killed by security forces in the Bastar region, encompassing seven districts including Bijapur, this year.  Bijapur district comes under the Bastar Lok Sabha constituency, which will go to polls in the first phase of general elections on April 19.


Naxal Encounters In Chhattisgarh 


Last month, a police constable and a Naxalite were killed in an encounter in Chhattisgarh's Kanker district. The gunfight occurred in a forest near Hidur village, which is within the jurisdiction of Chhotebethiya police station, while a combined security force was conducting an anti-Naxal operation. This operation started after receiving precise information regarding the presence of Naxalites in the Hidur forest.


Constable Ramesh Kurethi of the Bastar Fighters, a state police force, was killed in the firefight. The Naxal’s body and an AK-47 rifle were found at the scene.


On March 27, a joint team of security forces neutralised six Naxalites, including two women, during a fierce gun battle that occurred in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district. The intense exchange of gunfire transpired between security forces and the People's Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA), the armed wing of Platoon No. 10 of Naxals, near Chunabhatti jungle along the Palar River under Basaguda Police Station in Bijapur. Basaguda District Reserve Guard and Central Reserve Police Force and its CoBRA unit were involved in the action against the Naxals, as per ANI.


On March 19, security forces engaged in an exchange of fire with Naxal insurgents in the jungles of Purangel near the border of Dantewada and Bijapur in Chhattisgarh. During the search, the police seized two knuckle dusters, and a large quantity of ammunition, as per ANI.


Two bodies of Maoists, including that of a woman, were recovered. 


In February, a Naxal with a history of nearly thirty years of activity in the banned Maoist group and carrying a reward of Rs 8 lakh, was killed in an encounter with security forces in Chhattisgarh's Dantewada district. The encounter happened on Wednesday in a forested terrain near villages along the border of Dantewada and Sukma districts, where a joint security team was engaged in an anti-Naxal operation.


In January, at least three CRPF personnel were killed and 14 others sustained injuries during a gun battle with the Maoists in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district. Two of the commandos killed were part of the elite jungle warfare unit CoBRA.