Earlier, in a major joint offensive, separate teams of nearly 600 personnel belonging to the District Reserve Guard (DRG), Special Task Force (STF) and Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA) -- an elite unit of Central Reserve Police Force, launched an anti-Naxal operation from three sides towards Elmagunda after getting inputs about a huge gathering of ultras there on Saturday.
A maximum of 92,000 personnel of CAPFs are likely to be deployed in politically volatile West Bengal, where elections will be held in seven phases, followed by 63,500 personnel in militancy-hit Jammu and Kashmir, where polling will be held in five phases.
The killed cadres, identified as Vargese and Linga, were allegedly involved in the ambush in which Mandavi and his four security personnel were killed on April 9, Superintendent of Police Abhishek Pallava said.
Naxals killed a security personnel and injured another in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district on Friday afternoon, while a helicopter sent to airlift the injured security personnel had lost connection with air traffic control, police said on Friday. "One jawan of the Chhattisgarh Armed Force was killed and another injured in the Naxal attack in the forest area of Temelwada village under Dornapal police station area," said police spokesperson Sonal Mishra.
Chhattisgarh has witnessed rising incidence of such attacks.
Security forces have busted a transit naxal camp following an encounter with the ultras during a search operation conducted in Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh and recovered a large cache of arms and explosives, police said.
They were identified as LOS commander Erra and woman cadre Podiyam Bhime, deputy commander of the same squad, Sharma said.
Security forces today arrested six armed Naxals at Kosekodi village in Chhattisgarh's Kanker district. Police officials said the arrest was the result of a joint operation by BSF, district police and Special Police Officers who had received information about the movement of Naxals in the area.
Campaigning ended on Wednesday evening for 102 Lok Sabha seats across 21 states and Union territories which will go to polls in the first phase on April 19 with top leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance and the opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) making a last-gasp effort to woo voters.
1 jawan was injured in a gunbattle with Naxals in Chhattisgarh's Kanker district.
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.
The security forces did not suffer any casualty in the encounter.
Security forces say Naxals have amassed nearly Rs 1,500 crore through extortion, kidnapping, looting and the narcotics trade.
The encounter broke out early on Saturday between a BSF patrol and armed Naxal cadres near the Chhotebethiya-Pakhanjore jungle axis of the Maoist violence-hit district, officials said.
The Naxals fled from the spot after a prolonged gunfight.
'There is need to invent another enemy.' 'If you can add Maoists to Muslims, the tukde-tukde thread will tie in nicely.' 'You might even have a 'nation in grave danger' story by the summer of 2019,' notes Shekhar Gupta.
Chairing a meeting to review the security situation in LWE-affected states, Shah said the Modi government has adopted a policy of zero tolerance against left wing extremism since 2014.
The majority of CoBRA teams, whose commandos are expected to have tough mental and physical attributes, are deployed in various Maoist violence affected states while a few are based in the northeastern states for undertaking counter-insurgency operations.
The audacious strike on top Congress leaders by a Naxal battalion in Chhattisgarh on Saturday has proved that the left-wing extremists have no intention of pausing their armed struggle against the government. An official of the Central Reserve Police Force, the paramilitary force which has been deployed across Naxalism-hit areas, explained the situation on the ground to Rediff.com's Vicky Nanjappa.
Action should be taken against those arrested for alleged Naxal links if there was evidence, he said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi strongly condemned the attack.
A delegation of Congress leaders met EC officials and raised several issues, including the use of pictures and large cut-outs of the prime minister in government buildings and colleges and demanded that those be removed to maintain a level-playing field in the upcoming parliamentary election.
The operation was conducted between June 23 and 25, the police said.
Manhas went missing after the April 3 gunfight between Naxals and security personnel near Sukma-Bijapur border.
'I was laughing and crying at the same time. Right now, just extremely happy that she will be out and amongst us soon.'
This is suspected to be a Naxal ambush for security forces. Maoists fired multiple rounds while attacking the vehicle-mounted team, the official said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday mooted the idea of "One Nation, One Uniform" for the police, saying it is just a suggestion for consideration and he is not trying to impose it on the states.
Date, a 1990 Indian Police Service officer of the Maharashtra cadre who once sold newspapers in Pune to financially support his family, was honoured with the President's Police medal for gallantry for his role in what has come to be known as the 26/11 attack.
Deva recently replaced Hidma as commander of the Maoists' battalion no. 1, the IG added.
A Naxal commander was killed and many ultras are feared injured in an encounter with a joint team of police and the Central Reserve Police Force in Bijapur forests of Chhattisgarh, the police said on Tuesday.
In a major breakthrough, the Chhattisgarh police arrested six Naxals including an alleged deputy commander who were involved in blowing up a bus recently in which 32 people were killed.
A top Naxal commander and aide of dreaded Maoist leader Kundan Pahan was on Wednesday killed by security forces in a pre-dawn encounter in the forests of Khunti district of Jharkhand.
Security experts say there has been complacency in handling the Naxal issue since the number of attacks has gone down over the years. Vicky Nanjappa reports.
Three Naxals were arrested on Tuesday and a cache of arms, ammunition and electronic gadgets seized after security forces busted a Maoist transit camp in Chhattisgarh's Kanker district, the police said.
When the MPV carrying six personnel was around one km away from the camp, ultras triggered a powerful land mine blast, he said.
Roads are of great importance to win the war against the rebels in Sukma
'Just because we haven't reached out, the Naxalites have come and taken over these places. A vacuum cannot exist, someone comes and fills it up and they have done that.' Vijay Raman, Special Director General, Anti Naxal Task Force, in an exclusive interview.
Additional Director General (Naxal operations) Ram Niwas said that a police team of 145 troopers was on a search operation in the Chintalnaar area, when the Naxals struck.
The interim budget 2024-25 on Thursday allocated Rs 202868.70 crore to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) with the highest share of funds going to the paramilitary forces like Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Border Security Force (BSF) and Central Industrial Secular Force (CISF), showing priority on internal security and border guarding.
Three Naxals, including a woman, were killed in a police encounter in the jungles of Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh on Thursday, police said.
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