Twelve Naxalites killed in encounter in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district

RAIPUR: At least 12 Naxalites were killed in forests of restive Bijapur district on Friday in yet another fierce encounter between security personnel and Maoists, as the gun-battle continued.
According to preliminary information, a team of security personnel were out on search operation when an encounter broke out with Naxalites in the morning near Pidia village in Gangaloor region.
Dantewada SP Gaurav Rai confirmed that bodies of 12 Naxalites have been recovered from the encounter site so far.

The encounter went on for eleven hours till evening with the forces now preparing to return.
Chief minister Vishnu Deo Sai said that the encounter has ended in forests of Pidia with twelve bodies been recovered, for which, he extended wishes to the security forces and officers engaged in the operation.
“Since the BJP has come to power in Chhattisgarh, action against Naxalites have increased and we are giving a strong fight to them. Our Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji and Union home minister Amit Shah ji also wish that Naxalism should end and people are getting the benefits of double-engine govt,” Sai said.
Another senior officer said that a huge inter-district team of over a thousand security forces had gone out on anti-Naxal operation comprising of personnel from CoBRA, Special Task Force, District Reserve Guards. They started from different camps of Bijapur, Dantewada and Sukma districts and had a face-off with Maoists at different locations of Pidia forests.
The officer said that the exact number of Maoists killed can only be known when the teams of security personnel converge at a place. The jawans were safe and striking hard, police officers said.
On April 16, security forces had gunned down 29 Naxalites in an encounter in Kanker district while ten Naxalites were killed in another encounter in Abujhmarh region of Narayanpur district.