Bijapur (Chhattisgarh) [India], January 12 : Five Naxalites were killed in an encounter with security forces on Sunday in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district, said the Police.
According to the Superintendent of Police, Bijapur, Jitendra Yadav, "5 Naxalites were killed in an encounter with security forces. The bodies of 2 female naxals and 3 male naxals have been recovered. The identification of the deceased is yet to be done."
Additionally, the SP said that several automatic and other weapons and explosives were from the forests under the National Park area of the Bijapur district.
"1 SLR rifle, 12 bore rifle, single shot rifle, BGL launcher and other arms and ammunition have been recovered," said the official.
Sharing details from the encounter, SP Jitendra Yadav said, "Based on the intelligence about the presence of naxals in the Bandepara-Korenjed forests under Madded police station area of the national park area of Bijapur district on January 11, a security force team had gone on an anti-Maoist operation."
"During the operation, today Sunday morning, an exchange of fire began between the security forces and the Naxalites in the Bandepara-Korenged forest, which continued till 3-4 pm," said the SP.
Following the encounter, the search operation led to the recovery of five bodies of the killed Naxals including two women, all in uniforms.
The recovered weapons included one SLR rifle, one 12-bore rifle, two single-shot rifles, one BGL launcher, and one locally made Bharmar gun, along with explosives, Maoist literature, and other Naxal materials.
The official said that detailed information will be released after the completion of the operation.
The search operation is still underway, further details are awaited.
Earlier on Saturday, a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawan was injured as an improvised explosive device (IED) laid down by the Naxalites exploded in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district, officials said.
This happened after a team of CRPF from 196 Battalion Mahadev Ghat had left for the forest to carry out area domination in the morning. During the operations, one jawan was injured due to an IED blast.
The injured jawan was admitted to the District Hospital Bijapur for treatment.