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Seven Maoists including two women were killed in an encounter with security forces in Chhattisgarh's Narayanpur district on Thursday, a senior police official said.
The gunfight broke out around 3 am in the forest of south Abujhmad along the border of Narayanpur and Dantewada districts, inspector general of police (Bastar Range) Sundarraj P said.
Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai hailed the security forces for the operation and said the fight against Maoits will continue till it is completely eliminated.
Personnel of the District Reserve Guard from Narayanpur, Dantewada, Bastar and Kondagaon districts, Special Task Force of the state police, and Central Reserve Police Force were involved in the operation that was launched on December 10 based on inputs about the presence of Maoists belonging to the Maad division in the area, said IG Sundarraj.
The intermittent exchange of fire lasted for more than seven hours following which the bodies of seven Maoists, including two women, clad in uniform were recovered from the spot, he said.
A huge cache of weapons and items of daily use were also recovered from the spot, the official said, adding that security personnel were reported to be safe and a search operation was still underway in the area.
With this incident, at least 215 Maoists have been killed in encounters so far this year in the Bastar division of the state, as per the police.
In a post on X, Chief Minister Sai said, "7 Maoists were killed in an encounter with security forces in south Abujhmad area of Narayanpur-Dantewada district. This is definitely a big success for the security forces. I salute and congratulate the bravery of all the security forces involved in the operation. Our fight will continue till Maoist threat is eradicated.