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The bodies of three Naxals who were killed in an encounter with security forces in the Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh have been recovered, a senior police officer said.
Bastar IG Sundarraj P told ANI, "...Bodies of 3 male Naxalites have been recovered. An INSAS, .12 bore pistol recovered from the encounter site. One of the killed Naxalites has been identified as Sudhir. He had a reward of Rs 25 lakh on his head. The other 2 are being identified". The search operation is underway, the official said. Chhattisgarh Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sharma said there is a possibility that more bodies may be recovered. "Till now, the bodies of three Naxals have been recovered...These figures may vary and increase...all this is still going on in the border areas of Bijapur and Dantewada. Arms have also been recovered...We have said that the Panchayats, which will declare themselves Naxal-free, will be immediately sanctioned work of Rs 1 crore...," he told ANI Earlier in the day, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai saluted the bravery of the security forces and said that the encounter is underway. "Our government and security forces are constantly fighting against Naxalism and succeeding... I have come to know that an encounter is underway... I salute the bravery of our security forces... We are sure that Home Minister Amit Shah's resolution of eradicating Naxalism by March 31, 2026, will be completed," Chhattisgarh CM Sai told ANI. Earlier on March 21, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that 2,619 Naxalites were arrested, surrendered, or killed in the past over a year due to the approach of the BJP government, which came to power in Chhattisgarh in December 2023. Replying to the debate in Rajya Sabha on the working of his ministry, he said Naxalism will be eliminated from the country by March 21, 2026. "Let me tell you that by March 21, 2026, Naxalism will be completely eradicated from our country. This is the result of the hard work of the Modi government over the past 10 years," he said. Amit Shah said BJP government in Chhattisgarh was tackling the problem of Naxalism with a different approach compared to the Congress and the number of active Naxals went down by 2619. "What happens when there is a government which considers Naxalism a political issue and what happens when a government which works for security as well as development comes to power...When BJP came to power in Chhattisgarh in December 2023, after that, 380 Naxals were killed in just a year while 30 Naxals killed yesterday (a day in March) have not been added to this. In these operations, 26 security personnel died," he said. "It was the same Chhattisgarh, the same police, BSF, and Indian government, with only Congress in power. But in December 2023, when BJP came to power, within a year, 2,619 Naxalites were either arrested, surrendered, or killed. This shows you what change in approach does," he added. Last week, in two separate encounters with Naxalites in Chhattisgarh, security forces recovered 30 bodies of Naxalites along with a large cache of firearms during search operations. (ANI)
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