Chhattisgarh encounter: 600 commandos, 15-day plan behind massive op
A section of the commandos entered the extremists-hit forests through Gadchiroli, Maharashtra.
Locals and surrendered Maoists formed the 600-strong team of trained commandos who carried out one of the deadliest operations against Maoists in the jungles of Bastar region and eliminated 31 extremists on Sunday morning, officials familiar with the matter said.
With Sunday’s operation, hailed by Union home minister Amit Shah as a “big achievement” for the security forces, 81 Maoists have been neutralised in separate encounters in Chhattisgarh so far this year, compared to 219 in 2024.
The operation was planned for over a fortnight, with jawans from the Chhattisgarh police’s District Reserve Guard, Special Task Force (STF), and Bastar fighters entering the Indravati National Park area through various routes on Thursday morning, the officials said.
A section of the commandos entered the extremists-hit forests through the Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra and the state police facilitated their movement to the Maoists cadres camping in the area.
The gunbattle took place on a forested hill along the border of Manded and Farsegarh police station areas, Bastar range inspector general of police Sundarraj P said.
While the operation began on February 7, at around 8am on Sunday, an intense exchange of fire broke out on the hill, a part of the Indravati National Park. The intermittent gunfight lasted till around 4 pm, he said.
On the south of the Manded area committee flows the Indravati river which divides Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh.
The area where the encounter took place falls under the West Bastar division of the CPI (Maoist) with the least security presence few security camps.
“We were planning for the operation for the last 15 days and it was a success,” Vivekanand Sinha, ADG (Naxal operation) said.
A huge cache of automatic weapons was recovered from the site following the encounter, which, the officials said, indicates the presence of senior Maoist cadres for a meeting.
The Manded area committee falls on the axis of Telangana, Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh, the officials said, adding that the slain Maoists may have belonged to any of the three states.
“The identification of Maoists will be done on Monday but a senior cadre is likely to have been killed in the encounter because the kind of automatic rifles recovered from the encounter spot. Police also had specific input of senior cadres hence the operation was planned,” an intelligence officer said on condition of anonymity.
Soon after the operation culminated, home minister Shah said that no citizen of the country has to lose his life due to Maoism. “I also reiterate my resolve that before 31 March, 2026, we will completely eradicate Naxalism from the country so that no citizen of the country has to lose his life due to it,” he wrote on X.
He also expressed condolences for the two soldiers who were killed “in the effort to end anti-human Naxalism”, and said that the country will always be indebted to these heroes. “I express my heartfelt condolences to the families of the martyred soldiers,” he said.
The operation was planned with specific inputs on the presence of the Maoists, and experts said that Sunday’s operation was among the biggest in the region.
“I believe that it is one of the biggest set-back for Maoists. Cadre movement will halt for a few days,” said DM Awasthi, former director general of police, Chhattisgarh.
The encounter is part of a series of successful anti-Maoist operations in Chhattisgarh this year. Security forces have intensified aggression against the insurgents, gunning down some of their top leaders in encounters spread across Chhattisgarh, intending to eradicate Maoist violence in India by March 2026.
The string of high-profile encounters is aimed at pushing back extremists, taking over their jungle hideouts, and crippling their fortifications.
Of the Maoists killed this year, 62 have been shot dead in Bijapur. The encounters are part of a broader government offensive against the Maoists, constructing roads and setting up camps in districts and areas that were once plagued by Left-wing extremism.
Since December 2023, the security forces have intensified aggression against LWE, creating 17 new forward camps in what were thus far thought to be core Maoist-controlled areas. This includes areas inside Abhujmad, a 4,000 sq-km expanse of forests that straddles Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra.
Several attempts at conducting preliminary surveys in the region have taken place since 2017, but each has been stymied by the extremely difficult geography, complete lack of infrastructure, and heavy Maoist fortification. It is because of this administrative vacuum that most security officers in Bastar refer to the area as the “last bastion of the Maoists”, where the senior-most cadre, including the politburo and the central committee, of the CPI(Maoist) take refuge through the year.