RAIPUR: At least seven cadres of outlawed CPI (Maoist) in uniform were gunned down by security forces in a fierce encounter along the inter-district borders of Narayanpur-Dantewada in Abujhmad area, south Chhattisgarh on Thursday.“Based on specific input about the presence of Maoists in the south Abujhmad (meaning unfamiliar land) region, a joint team of District Reserve Guard (DRG), Special Task Force (STF) and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) left on the planned anti-Maoist search operation on 10 November. As the search campaign moved ahead, an encounter resulted at around 3 am on November 12 after the Maoists opened fire on the forces who came close to their location. So far, seven bodies of Maoists have been recovered from the encounter site during a search operation”, said a police officer in Bastar.The Maoists clustered together in the area were stated to be surrounded by the forces.The officer added that the intermittent exchange of fire continued even as the troops have intensified their search operations in the region and further details are awaited.The recovered bodies of the Maoists are yet to be identified.This year, as many as 214 bodies of Maoists have been recovered so far after security forces neutralised them in separate encounters across the conflict-ridden south Bastar zone.Dantewada and Narayanpur are among the seven Maoist-affected districts in the Bastar range.The Union Home Minister Amit Shah scheduled to visit Bastar on a two-day trip from 15 December, had earlier reiterated ‘the fight against the Maoists is in its final stage’ while declaring that the country will be free from the Maoist problem by March 2026.
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