Inspector General (IG) Bastar, P Sundarraj said, "An encounter is ongoing between DRG (District Reserve Guard) and naxals in southern Sukma. An exchange of fire has been underway since morning. The search operation is underway."
Two personnel of the District Reserve Guards (DRG) were injured in an improvised explosive device (IED) blast by Naxalites in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district on Thursday, police said.
As many as 16 Naxals, including four carrying a cumulative bounty of Rs 18 lakh on their heads, surrendered in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur on Tuesday, officials said.
At least 10 Maoists, including three female members, have been killed in an encounter with security forces in Chhattisgarh's Narayanpur Narayanpur-Kanker Border on Tuesday, officials said.
Sharing details of the ongoing exchange of fire, a police officer informed that a joint security team from the District Reserve Guard (DRG) and the Special Task Force (STF) were involved in the operation.
"One Naxal has been neutralised in an encounter with security forces in Sukma. His body and weapons have been recovered and the search operation is underway," Sukma Superintendent of Police (SP) Kiran Chavan said speaking to ANI.
The encounter broke out between Maoists and the District Reserve Guard (DRG), a unit of the Chhattisgarh Police, in a forest near Kanker's Hidur village under the Chhotebethiya police station during a search operation on Sunday morning.