On Thursday, officials reported that security forces and police killed 30 Naxalites in two separate encounters on Wednesday in Chhattisgarh. The operations took place in the Bijapur and Kanker districts, and one Chhattisgarh District Reserve Guard (DRG) jawan was also killed.

Officials said that 26 bodies were recovered from the Bijapur encounter site, while four others were found in Kanker. In the first and more significant encounter, eighteen Naxalites and one police officer were killed in a dense forest area along the Bijapur-Dantewada border in Gangaloor. The clash began around 7 am and lasted for several hours, with intense gunfire from both sides. Bijapur Police confirmed that the bodies of 18 Naxalites have been recovered from the site, and a large amount of arms, ammunition and explosives was seized. "An encounter is underway between security forces and Naxals in the forest area along the Bijapur-Dantewada border. So far, 18 Naxalite bodies have been recovered along with a heavy quantity of weapons and ammunition. One DRG jawan has been martyred. Search and combing operations are still ongoing," police officials said.

The police stated that the anti-Naxal operation was led by a joint team consisting of DRG, Special Task Force (STF), and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel. The search teams are still active in the area, working to find any remaining Naxals and recover more weapons. In a separate operation in Kanker district, four Maoists were killed in a gunfight near the village of Koroskodo in Chhotebethiya. Security forces were carrying out combing operations when they were attacked and responded with strong retaliation. "Four Maoist cadres died in the encounter with security forces near village Koroskodo in Kanker district. The operation and area sanitisation are continuing," officials confirmed.

Meanwhile, Union Home Minister Amit Shah also took note of the Maoist elimination in Chattisgarh. He announced that security forces had made another major achievement in their effort to make the country free of Naxalites, by killing 22 members of the CPI (Maoists) in Chhattisgarh. Shah also stated that the Narendra Modi government is continuing with a tough approach against Naxalites, following a zero-tolerance policy for extremists who refuse to surrender, despite the various opportunities being provided to them. "Today our soldiers have achieved another big success in the direction of a 'Naxal Mukt Bharat Abhiyan'. Twenty-two Naxalites were killed in two separate operations by our security forces at Bijapur and Kanker in Chhattisgarh.

"The Modi government is moving forward with a ruthless approach against Naxalites and is adopting a zero-tolerance policy against those Naxalites who are not surrendering despite all the facilities being offered to them, ranging from surrender to inclusion. The country is going to be Naxal-free by March 31 next year," Shah wrote on X in Hindi.