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At least 14 Naxalites, including a senior cadre, were killed in an encounter with security forces along the Chhattisgarh-Odisha border in Gariaband district, police said on Tuesday.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah said the Maoists were killed in a joint operation by the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), SoG Odisha and Chhattisgarh Police along the inter-state border.
He said that with the resolve for a Naxal-free India and the joint efforts of the security forces, Naxalism is breathing its last today.
"Another mighty blow to Naxalism. Our security forces achieved major success towards building a Naxal-free Bharat. The CRPF, SoG Odisha, and Chhattisgarh Police neutralised 14 Naxalites in a joint operation along the Odisha-Chhattisgarh border," he said in a post on X.
According to the police, two women Naxalites were killed, and a CoBRA jawan was injured in an encounter during the joint operation earlier on Monday.
An official said a fresh exchange of fire took place late on Monday night and early Tuesday morning in a forest under the Mainpur police station area along the Chhattisgarh-Odisha border, in which 12 more Naxalites were gunned down.
With this, the toll in the operation was at 14, he said.
Gariaband Superintendent of Police Nikhil Rakhecha, in a statement, said that of the deceased, one has been identified as Jairam alias Chalpati, a central committee member of Maoist, who was carrying a bounty of Rs 1 crore.
He said the identity of the remaining killed cadres was yet to be ascertained.
The official said intermittent exchange of fire was still underway in the area, and the number of Maoist casualties may increase.
A joint team of security personnel from the District Reserve Guard (DRG), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), CoBRA from Chhattisgarh and Special Operation Group (SOG) from Odisha are involved in the operation, the official said.
He said the operation was launched on the night of January 19 based on intelligence about the presence of Maoists in the Kularighat reserve forest of Chhattisgarh, just 5 km from the border of Odisha's Nuapada district.
Two women Naxalites were neutralised during the operation on Monday, and a large cache of firearms, ammunition and IEDs, including a self-loading rifle, were recovered from the encounter site, the official said.
Hailing the security forces, Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai said that under the double-engine government (BJP government at the Centre and the state), Chhattisgarh will get rid of the menace by March 2026.
Strengthening the resolve of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah to end Naxalism in the country and state by March 2026, the security forces have been continuously achieving success and moving rapidly towards fulfilling the target, he said.
"This success of the soldiers is commendable. I salute their bravery", Sai said.
With this encounter, 40 Naxalites have been killed in separate encounters in the state so far this year.
On January 16, twelve Naxalites were killed in an encounter with security personnel in Bijapur district. Later, Maoists, in a statement, admitted that 18 cadres were killed in the January 16 gunfight.
Last year, 219 Naxalites were neutralised by security forces in separate encounters in the state.