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A cache of weapons, including an AK-47 rifle, one SLR (self-loading rifle), one INSAS rifle, one LMG rifle and one .303 rifle were also recovered from the encounter spot.
A 10-km motorcycle ride through fields and dirt track followed by a 12-km climb of a hilly terrain take one to the site of Chhattisgarh's most successful counter-insurgency operation that eliminated 31 Naxalites.
About 1,500 security personnel covered this arduous route as part of their 48-hour operation in the forest along Narayanpur and Dantewada districts border to inflict a crushing blow to Maoists, said officials on Saturday.
This was the highest number of fatalities suffered by Maoists in a single operation since the state's creation 24 years ago and the offensive comes more than five months after 29 Naxalites, including higher-ranking cadres, were neutralised in an encounter with security personnel in Kanker district.
Nearly 1,500 jawans of District Reserve Guard (DRG) from Dantewada and Narayanpur and Special Task Force were involved in the offensive, Dantewada Additional Superintendent of Police RK Barman told PTI.
The crackdown was launched based on inputs about the presence of Maoists belonging to their company No. 6 and east Bastar division on the hills of Gavadi, Thulthuli, Nendur and Rengawaya villages, he said.
The operation, launched on October 3 and lasted for two days, turned out to be the biggest ever successful counter-insurgency operation in the state, he said.
The gunfight broke out between security forces and Naxalites at around 1 pm on Friday and ended late in the evening in a forest between Nendur and Thulthuli villages, he said.
While bodies of 28 Naxalites were recovered from the encounter site on Friday, three more bodies were found on Saturday, he said, adding that the slain Naxalites were in “uniform”.
Reinforcement by the Central Reserve Police Force helped the search operation and the Naxalites' bodies are being brought to Dantewada, he said.
Maoist posters could be seen at some locations along the heavily forested and hilly stretch. To enter the area, considered a Naxal den, one has to cross the Indravati river at Chhindnar village where an over-a-kilometre-long bridge has been constructed, said officials.
"The identity of the Naxalites is yet to be ascertained but prima facie, it appears they belonged to PLGA (People's Liberation Guerilla Army) company No. 6, Platoon 16 and East Bastar division of Maoists,” Inspector General of Police (IGP) Bastar Range Sundarraj P told PTI.
The input, which triggered the operation, was about the presence of DKSZC (Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee) members, Kamlesh and Neeti, and other senior cadres like Nandu and Suresh Salam, the IPS officer said.
Whether they are among those killed will be known after ascertaining the identities of the neutralised Naxalites, he said.
A DRG jawan sustained injuries in a blast in a shell of an Under Barrel Grenade Launcher (BGL) fired by Naxalites during the gunfight, the official said.
Along with the bodies, a cache of weapons, including an AK-47 rifle, one SLR (self-loading rifle), one INSAS rifle, one LMG rifle and one .303 rifle were also recovered from the encounter spot, the IGP said.
Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai, who assumed office in December last year, hailed security forces for carrying out the successful operation and said the ‘double engine' government (BJP government in the state and at the Centre) is determined to eliminate the Naxal menace.
After the latest encounter, 188 Maoists have been gunned down by security forces in separate gun battles in the Bastar region comprising seven districts, including Dantewada and Narayanpur, so far this year, police said.
On April 16, as many as 29 Naxalites, including some higher-ranking cadres, were killed in an encounter with security personnel in Kanker district.