At least 28 Naxalites were killed in an encounter - one of the biggest such operations of late - with security personnel along the Dantewada border in Chhattisgarh on October 4, a senior police official said.
"The gunfight broke out around 1pm in the forest of Abhujmaad on the Narayanpur-Dantewada inter-district border when a joint team of security personnel was out on anti-Naxalite operation," Inspector General of Police (Bastar Range) Sundarraj P told news agency PTI over the phone.
According to a report in The Times of India, the bodies of the Naxalites are yet to be identified and officials said that it's likely that the senior cadres were among those killed.
A huge cache of weapons, including an AK-47 rifle and one SLR (self-loading rifle) have been recovered from the encounter site.
Hailing the anti-Naxalite operation, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai said he salutes the indomitable courage of the security forces. "This great success achieved by the soldiers is commendable. I salute his courage and indomitable courage," he posted on X, formerly Twitter.
"Naxalism is taking its last breath ... It is certainly going to be eliminated from the state. The double engine government is determined to completely eradicate Naxalism," Sai added.
Last month, Union Home Minister Amit Shah set March 31, 2026 as the date to end Naxalism in the country. He asserted that the government has decided to uproot Naxalism and the idea of Naxalism from the country before March 2026.
The Chhattisgarh CM added that Shah has visited the state twice in 9 months and assessed the anti-Naxal operations.
According to police, after this latest encounter, 185 Naxalites have been killed so far this year in separate gun battles in the Bastar region comprising seven districts including Dantewada and Narayanpur.
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