Chhattisgarh dy CM hails forces after senior commander, 9 Naxals killed

Chhattisgarh Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sharma has hailed a joint operation by security forces which neutralised 10 naxals, including a senior commander carrying a reward of Rs 1 crore, congratulating the officials for conducting an "excellent operation" in a restrained manner.

"It was an excellent operation. It was a joint operation of CRPF's Cobra commandos, Chhattisgarh Police, and DRG conducted in a very restrained manner. The operation lasted for two days. In the encounter, all the Naxals were killed. A Naxal with a bounty of Rs 1 crore was also killed. Along with that nine other Naxals were killed," the Deputy CM told ANI on Thursday.

The security forces neutralised senior commander and Central Committee (CC) member Manoj alias Modem Balakrishna, according to officials on Thursday.

Earlier, Inspector General (IG) Raipur Range, Amresh Mishra, said, "Encounter is underway between security forces and Naxals in Gariaband with intermittent exchange of firing. A few naxals are likely dead."

Intermittent firing continued on Friday morning with , special forces of Gariaband E-30, STF and CoBRA are at the scene. The forces also recovered 10 weapons too.

In a similar incident, security forces also neutralised one naxal in an encounter in the Kanker-Narayanpur border area. Officials identified the naxal as the PLGA Military Company 05 member who had a reward of Rs 8 lakh on his head.

The encounter took place in the hilly jungle area of the village of Gedabeda of Police Station Partapur.Forces also recovered a .303 rifle and a walkie-talkie from the site.

Inspector General of Police, Bastar Range, Sundarraj P, said that despite difficult geographical conditions and brutal weather, the police and security forces deployed in Bastar are working with complete devotion to protect life and property as per the intention of the Government of India and the Government of Chhattisgarh.