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A couple and their two daughters died after the car they were travelling in got swept away while crossing a flooded culvert in Chhattisgarh's Bastar district, officials said on Wednesday. Another person went missing in an overflowing stream and efforts are being made to trace him, they said. Heavy rains pounded four districts of the Bastar division, where authorities have been instructed to remain alert to deal with flood situations and launch relief measures, officials said. Nearly 70 persons have been evacuated to safer places in the last 36 hours in Bastar, Bijapur and Dantewada districts. Helicopters, boats and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) personnel were involved in the rescue operations, they said. In Bastar district, four members of a family drowned after the car ferrying them was swept away by strong currents while crossing the flooded Kanger Nala culvert in the Kanger Valley National Park on Tuesday evening, a senior police official in Jagdalpur said. The deceased
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday said Naxals would not be able to stop the development of tribals in Chhattisgarh's Bastar region and urged them to lay down arms while asserting that nobody is happy when they are killed. Addressing the closing ceremony of the state government's 'Bastar Pandum' festival, Shah reiterated that the government is committed to eliminating the Naxal menace by March 2026, adding that those who surrender will become part of the mainstream while the rest will be taken on by security forces. "The days when bullets were fired and bombs exploded in Bastar are over. I urge Naxalite brothers to lay down arms and join the mainstream. You are our own. No one feels happy when any Naxalite is killed. Just surrender your weapons and join the mainstream. You cannot stop the development of your tribal brothers and sisters by taking up arms," he said offering an olive branch to the outlawed movement. Shah said surrendered ultras who become part of the development
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai has said Maoism is like cancer and there is need to strike at its root to end the menace. In the last one year, security forces have killed more than 230 Maoists in various encounters, Sai said addressing a function on Monday after inaugurating and laying foundation stones of several development projects in Sukma. "Maoism is like cancer. If cancer has to be eradicated, it is necessary to attack its root. Maoists had stuck like leeches in some areas of Bastar and were exploiting the people by intimidating them. These places were their safest hideouts. We decided to attack Maoists by entering their den," a government release quoted Sai as saying. "Maoists had thrown Sukma along with Bastar division into deadly violence. Due to this, the development of Sukma was badly affected. In the last one year, the government took many important decisions to develop Sukma and has implemented them rapidly," he said. Under a well-planned strategy, police .
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday lauded the recently concluded Bastar Olympics 2024, saying the event has given a platform for youngsters to hone their talent and build a new Bharat. The Bastar Olympics 2024, held in the eponymous district, was organised by the Chhattisgarh government last month. The multi-sport event was aimed at spotting local talents, integrating tribal youths of Naxal-hit Bastar into the mainstream and enhancing relations between people and administration. Referring to the Bastar Olympics in his monthly 'Mann ki Baat' broadcast, Modi said it was a unique event and a symbol that a change was taking place in the country. "Do you know that a unique Olympic has started in our Bastar! Yes, a new revolution is coming into being in Bastar through the first Bastar Olympics. Friends, the Bastar Olympics is not just a sports event. It is a platform where development and sports are merging together, where our youth are honing their talent and building a new Bharat,"
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 prese
The bodies of three more Naxalites were recovered on Saturday morning in Chhattisgarh's Bastar region, where a fierce encounter with security personnel took place a day ago, police said. With this, the number of Naxalites killed in the gun battle with the security personnel on Friday has risen to 31, they said, adding that a search operation is still underway in the area. "Bodies of three more Naxalites were recovered this morning from the dense forest where the encounter took place on Friday," Inspector General of Police (Bastar range) Sundarraj P told PTI. "With this, the toll of Naxalites in the encounter rose to 31. The identity of the Naxalites is yet to be ascertained, but prima facie it appears that they belonged to PLGA (People's Liberation Guerilla Army) company No. 6, Platoon 16 of Maoists and east Bastar division of Maoists," he said. On Friday, the gunfight broke out between security forces and Naxalites around 1 am in a forest between Nendur and Thulthuli villages on .