Chhattisgarh: Naxalite killed in encounter with security personnel in Sukma

Sukma (Chhattisgarh) [India], September 14 (ANI): One Naxalite was killed in an encounter with security forces in the Sukma district of Chhattisgarh on Saturday, officials said.
According to the Sukma police, the encounter took place early in the morning in the jungles on a hill near Tumalpad village under Chintagufa police station limits when a joint team of security personnel was out on an anti-Naxalite operation.
"One Naxalite dead and a weapon and a huge cache of Naxal-related material were recovered from the spot," Sukma police said.
Personnel belonging to the District Reserve Guard (DRG) and Bastar Fighters--both units of the state police and district force were involved in the operation, they added.
The identity of the deceased Naxalite is yet to be ascertained and a search operation is still underway in the area.
Moreover, four battalions of the Central Reserve Police Forces (CRPF) comprising 4000 CRPF personnel are set to be depolyed in Bastar for anti-insurgency operations.
On August 24, during an inter-state coordination meeting with Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai, Chief Secretaries and Director Generals of Police of Chhattisgarh and neighbouring states suffering from left-wing extremism in the area, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that there was a 70 per cent reduction in the deaths of security personnel who were killed due to naxalism and that the fight has reached the end phase and by March 2026, the country will be completely free from naxalism.
"In the first 10 years, 6617 security personnel were killed and now there has been a 70 per cent reduction. Similarly, we have witnessed a 69 per cent reduction in the deaths of citizens. I believe that our fight has reached the end phase and by March 2026, we will be able to free the country completely from naxalism," Shah said. (ANI)