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Six more bodies of Naxalites have been recovered following an encounter with security personnel in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district, taking the toll of cadres killed in the gun battle to 18, officials said on Thursday. Three personnel of the District Reserve Guard, a unit of the state police, were also killed in the gunfight which took place on Wednesday. Following a prolonged intermittent exchange of fire that lasted for around 12 hours, bodies of 12 Naxalites were recovered till late Wednesday evening, Inspector General of Police Sundarraj P said. Six more bodies were found till Thursday morning during a search in the area. With this, the toll of Naxalites killed in the encounter has gone up to 18, he said, adding that the search operation was still underway in the area. The operation involving personnel of the DRG from Dantewada and Bijapur, and Special Task Force, both units of the state police, and CoBRA (Commando Battalion for Resolute Action- an elite unit of CRPF) was launch
More than 30 police personnel were injured when a group of villagers protesting against the expansion of an open-cast coal mine clashed with them and hurled stones in Chhattisgarh's Surguja district, officials said. Some villagers were also injured in the face-off which occurred on Wednesday. Residents of Parsodi Kala village in the Bishrampur area have been opposing the extension of the Amera coal project of South Eastern Coalfields Limited (SECL), a subsidiary of Coal India, despite the land acquisition process being completed long back, the officials said. The SECL claimed in a statement that the villagers were instigated by a few persons who have vested interests and indulge in illegal activities like coal pilferage. After pacifying the villagers, mining activities resumed in the mine on Wednesday evening, the officials said. On learning about the protest, district officials along with police reached the site, which falls under the jurisdiction of Lakhanpur police station, ...
The All India Congress Committee (AICC) has appointed presidents for its 41 district units in Chhattisgarh as part of the party's organisational restructuring in the state, a party functionary said on Saturday. The appointments as per the choice of Congress workers are part of a comprehensive organisational overhaul under 'Sangathan Srijan Abhiyan', aimed at strengthening the party's urban and grassroots structure in the state, said Dhananjay Singh Thakur, senior spokesperson of the state Congress. The list of appointments, which includes five women leaders, was issued on Friday late evening. The move comes a day after senior Congress leader Sachin Pilot, who is the party's state in-charge, concluded his two-day visit to Chhattisgarh. AICC General Secretary KC Venugopal, in a statement, said Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has approved the proposal for the appointment of heads of district Congress committees as part of the 'Sangathan Srijan Abhiyan'. He said that under this
Patel Engineering has secured two projects worth around Rs 800 crore for mining related activities in Chhattisgarh. The company has received letter of intents from Saidax Engineers and Infrastructures. The total project value for both letter of intents combined is Rs 798.19 crore (excluding taxes), Patel Engineering said in a statement. Patel Engineering Ltd has received two Letter of Intents (LoIs) for the execution of excavation and associated works and transportation of coal at a project located at Jhiria West OCP of Hasdeo Area, Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh, for Coal India arm South Eastern Coalfields Limited (SECL). Patel Engineering Managing Director Kavita Shirvaikar said: "The new projects come in addition to a robust tender pipeline of more than Rs 34,000 crores already bid and under evaluation." The company also looks to participate in business opportunities worth Rs 18,000 crore expected to come up for bidding before the end of this financial year, she said. Patel Engineerin
Forty one Naxalites, 32 of them collectively carrying a reward of Rs 1.19 crore on their heads, surrendered in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district on Wednesday, officials said. The cadres, including 12 women, turned themselves in before senior police officials here, citing they were impressed by the government's new surrender and rehabilitation policy and "Poona Margham" (rehabilitation for social reintegration drive of Bastar range police), Bijapur Superintendent of Police Jitendra Kumar Yadav said. Among them, four were members of PLGA (People's Liberation Guerrilla Army) battalion no.1 and different companies of Maoists, three of area committees, 11 platoon and area committee party members, two PLGA members, four militia platoon commanders, one deputy commander, six militia platoon members, and the remaining belonged to frontal outfits of outlawed CPI (Maoist), he said. Thirty-nine of these 41 cadres belonged to the south sub-zonal bureau of Maoists. They all were associated with the
Chhattisgarh has received industrial investment proposals to the tune of Rs 6,321 crore and Rs 505 crore for development of the tourism sector, which are expected to generate over 3,000 employment opportunities in the coming years. The investment proposals were received at the 'Investor Connect' programme held here on Tuesday and attended by Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai, a state government release said. Chhattisgarh received unprecedented investment proposals at the 'Investor Connect' programme where leading companies from sectors such as steel, energy and tourism expressed interest in setting up new industries, expanding capacity, building hotels and developing waste-to-energy projects in the state, the release said. The participating companies proposed Rs 6,321.25 crore in industrial investments and Rs 505 crore in tourism investments, which are expected to generate over 3,000 employment opportunities in the coming years, it said. Chief Minister Sai interacted with
A Naxalite was killed in an encounter with security personnel in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district on Tuesday, a police official said. The exchange of fire broke out in the morning on a forested hill under Errabor police station limits when a team of security personnel was out on an anti-Naxalite operation based on inputs about the presence of Maoist cadres in the area, he said. So far, the body of one Naxalite has been recovered from the spot, he said. An intermittent gunfight was underway, and further details were awaited, he added. On Sunday, three Naxalites were killed in an encounter with security personnel in the forested hills of Bhejji and Chintagufa police station areas of Sukma. With the latest action, 263 Naxalites have been killed in encounters in Chhattisgarh so far this year. Of them, 234 were eliminated in the Bastar division, comprising seven districts, including Sukma, while 27 others were gunned down in Gariaband district, which falls in the Raipur division. Two ...
With the construction of 5.2 lakh water conservation structures, Telangana has emerged as the best-performing state under the Jal Sanchay Jan Bhagidari (JSJB) 1.0 initiative, the Ministry of Jal Shakti said on Tuesday. Chhattisgarh secured second place with 4.05 lakh completed projects, followed by Rajasthan with 3.64 lakh structures, Jal Shakti Minister C R Paatil said. Paatil announced this year's awards being given under the "Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch the Rain" campaign. The awards will be presented at the 6th National Water Awards by President Droupadi Murmu on November 18, alongside V L Kantha Rao, Secretary of the Department of Water Resources, River Development, and Ganga Rejuvenation. Launched in September 2024 in Surat, JSJB promotes community-led water stewardship through a whole-of-government and whole-of-society model. States were tasked with creating a minimum of 10,000 artificial recharge and storage structures, while municipal corporations were required to complete a
The Chhattisgarh High Court has said anti-Naxal operations, being part of regular counter-insurgency measures undertaken by state or Central security forces, cannot be subjected to investigation by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) unless exceptional circumstances warrant such intervention. The HC made the observation while dismissing a petition seeking an SIT probe into the killing of outlawed Communist Party of India (Maoist) Central Committee (CC) member K Ramachandra Reddy in an anti-Naxal operation in Narayanpur district last month. A division bench of Chief Justice Ramesh Sinha and Judge Bibhu Datta Guru said on October 14 that ordering an SIT probe into such regular field operations would not only undermine the federal structure of policing powers but also set a precedent inconsistent with established legal and administrative principles. Reddy's son Raja Chandra (33), a resident of Theegalakuntapally in Telangana's Siddipet district, had filed the petition seeking the ...