Security forces killed 14 Naxalites, including wanted ultras Mangtu (DVCM) and Hunga Madkam, in separate encounters in Chhattisgarh's Sukma and Bijapur districts in the Bastar region on Saturday, officials said.
Six Naxalites, including "deputy commander" Punem Nagesh, his wife, and another female cadre, were killed in an encounter with security personnel in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district on Wednesday, a police officer said.
In a separate incident, a commando of the Central Reserve Police Force's jungle warfare unit CoBRA was injured when a pressure improvised explosive device (IED), planted by Naxalites went off in the district, police said.
An Mi-17 Helicopter had landed at a field in jungle area in the midst of an active encounter area to evacuate the jawans and brought them to Raipur.
The search operation is underway in nearby areas.
The jawans reportedly had a brawl before the fatal incident took place.
A CRPF jawan was killed and another injured in a gun-fight with Naxals on Tuesday in Chhattisgarh's insurgency-hit Bijapur district.
Two Central Reserve Police Force personnel were killed and another was injured in an encounter with Maoists in Chhattisgarh's insurgency-hit Bijapur district on Sunday, the police said.
Four security personnel were killed after a large number of armed Naxalites attacked a relief camp in Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh.
Avenging the Sukma attack, security forces claim to have gunned down 12-15 Maoists in Chhattisgarh's Basaguda-Chintalnar area on Sunday.
The CoBRA team and other troops are still undertaking the operation.
The Chhattisgarh government on Thursday ordered a judicial probe into last week's encounter in Dantewada, in which at least 20 suspected Naxals were killed. There have been allegations that innocent villagers, including women and children, were among those slain.
The encounter, which took place in the jungles of Silger, a "liberated" Maoist zone between the naxal hotbed of Jagargunda and Basaguda in Dantewada, was launched on Thursday night by the CRPF from three directions.
Manhas went missing after the April 3 gunfight between Naxals and security personnel near Sukma-Bijapur border.
Ramanna was instrumental in several killings and attacks on security forces, including the 2010 Tadmetla massacre that claimed the lives of 76 troopers. He was also involved in the 2013 Naxal attack in Darbha valley where 29 people, including some senior Congress leaders and policemen, were killed.
A contingent of 1,500 personnel drawn from six security camps launched the cordon and search operation against Naxals along Bijapur-Sukma border around the crack of dawn on Saturday.
Three youths from Pune, who were allegedly abducted by Naxals while they were on a bicycle rally to spread the message of peace, have been released by the rebels in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district, police said.
The fight against ultras will be intensified to end the Naxal menace, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Monday as he took stock of the situation in the aftermath of the killing 22 security personnel in an attack by the rebels in Chhattisgarh.
The security forces did not suffer any casualty in the encounter.
The four leg canine 'soldiers' play a crucial role in saving lives of troops and civilians, reports Mayank Singh.
