Chhattisgarh: Dy CM Vijay Sharma appeals Naxals to join mainstream, after 12 Naxalites killed in Bijapur

Kabirdham (Chhattisgarh) [India], May 11 (ANI): Chhattisgarh Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sharma has appealed to the Naxals to join the mainstream and find solutions through talks with the government.
His appeal came hours after 12 Naxalites were killed in an encounter in Bijapur on Friday.
"I appeal to them (the Naxals) to join the mainstream and have discussions with our government, which is ready to provide very good facilities, more of which will be announced in the future," Sharma told ANI.
"The solutions to the issues should be found through talks. Development should reach every village. Why should the people of Bastar be kept hostage?" he added.
Talking about the operation of the security forces, he said, "Around a thousand soldiers of the DRG, STF and Cobra battalions of Bijapur and Dantewada had set out for the joint operation. Fortunately, in the operation, none of our soldiers were injured."
Meanwhile, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai congratulated the security forces after the operation.
"An encounter broke out between Naxals and the Security forces in the Gangaloor area of Bijapur district. 12 dead bodies of the Naxals have been recovered. I congratulate our jawans and senior officers. Ever since we came into government, we have fought strongly against the Naxalites. Our Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah also want Naxalism to end in Chhattisgarh. We are benefiting from the double-engine government," CM Vishnu Deo Sai told ANI.
An exchange of fire broke out on Friday between Naxals and security forces in the jungle near Pidiya village in Chhattisgarh. The place where gunfights broke out between the forces and Naxals falls under the limits of Gangaloor Police Station.
Earlier last month, 29 Naxals were killed and three security personnel sustained injuries in an encounter that broke out in Chhattisgarh's Kanker, which lies in the Bastar region. (ANI)