About seven to eight Maoist cadres have died of COVID-19 and about 15 to 20 others are seriously ill, a letter seized from a Communist Party of India (Maoist) leader said.
As per Bastar Inspector General Sundarraj P, the letter was seized during an operation in Bijapur on Tuesday.
"During an operation in Bijapur today, a letter written by a cadre of CPI (Maoist) to a senior leader was seized. The letter mentions that 7-8 cadres have died of COVID-19 and around 15-20 others are seriously ill," Sundarraj informed.
He added, "We have information that some Naxals left the cadre due to fear of contracting COVID-19."
Coronavirus cases have been on the rise in Chhattisgarh. As many as 9,717 new cases, 199 deaths and 12,440 discharges were reported in the state on Tuesday.
( With inputs from ANI )
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