RAIPUR: At least 22 Maoists were killed in separate encounters in Bijapur and Kanker districts of Bastar division in Chhattisgarh on Thursday, while a security personnel was also killed in the firing.
Eighteen Maoists were gunned down in insurgency-hit Bijapur and sources said that the toll might reach to 20. The jawan killed was a District Reserve Guards personnel and the body was evacuated. His identity will be known soon.
Security forces have recovered 18 bodies along with weapons and explosives from the encounter site of Bijapur and four bodies from the forests along the borders of Kanker and Narayanpur districts.
Bastar police said that the encounter is still going on in forests bordering Bijapur and Dantewada districts. A joint team of security forces went out on anti-Maoist operation in Gangaloor area of Bijapur when Maoists opened indiscriminate firing, to which the forces retaliated, police said. The exchange of fire is going on since 7 am.
Sources informed that forces have rounded up a group of senior cadres of Maoists in the forest and there could be confirmation of more casualties later during the day.
The search is still underway.
In Kanker, another team of troops is operating based on specific inputs received on presence of Maoists, The searching team comprising DRG and Border Security Force faced an encounter with Maoists, killing four of them. Security forces have recovered automatic weapons, explosives along with the Maoist bodies.
Intermittent firing continues in both the encounters.