Thirteen Naxals, including three women Naxalites, were killed in an encounter with security forces in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district on Tuesday, April 3. The tally of Naxalites killed in an encounter between security forces and Naxalites in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur has gone up to 13, police officials said on Wednesday.
IG Bastar Range P Sundarraj spoke to news agency ANI on polling preparations and an encounter between naxals and Police in which 13 naxals were killed.
Bodies of 13 Naxals Recovered:
"To ensure a free and safe polling procedure, DRG, CoBRA, Bastar forces, CRPF, BSF and ITBP are working. Besides this, additional forces have been allotted to us by the Election Commission," said Sundarraj. IG said there will be a coordination meeting with border areas of Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and Odisha.
Also Read | Chhattisgarh: Four Naxalites Killed in Encounter With Security Personnel in Bijapur.
"Identification of deaf bodies has yet to be done. Most probably, they are cadres of PLGA Coy No 02," Bastar IG added. After the encounter, Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sharma said that the encounter came after three villagers were killed by Naxalites.
"Bodies of 13 naxals recovered - 3 women. The bodies are being identified," he further said.
The encounter broke out around 6 am on Tuesday at Lendra village in Bijapur after a joint search operation by the District Reserve Group (DRG), Special Task Force (STF), CoBRA (Commando Battalion for Resolute Action) and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) that began on Monday night from Gangalur police station area, police said.
Bijapur district comes under the Bastar Lok Sabha constituency, which will go to polls in the first phase of general elections on April 19.