A Maoist was killed in an exchange of fire with security personnel in Chhattisgarh’s Kanker district on Monday, days after the state was declared free of armed leftist rebels on March 31.
Police said the gun battle took place in a forest area when a joint team of security personnel was on an anti-Maoist operation. “So far, the body of a Maoist woman, along with a weapon, has been recovered from the scene,” an officer said. The slain Maoist has been identified as Robi, a member of the Parthapur District Maoist Committee.
Police said the operation is still ongoing in the area, and more details are awaited.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah told Parliament last month that the March 31 deadline to end left-wing extremism across the country had been met. Shah said 4,839 Maoists surrendered, 706 others were killed, and 2,218 people were arrested and imprisoned during three years of anti-Maoist operations.
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai met Prime Minister Narendra Modi last Tuesday and presented a road map envisioning education centres, a medical college, irrigation projects, adventure and eco-tourism, including canopy walks and a glass bridge in the jungle, for the former Maoist stronghold of Bastar. For decades, Bastar, Dantewada, Sukuma, Bijapur, Narayanpur, Kondagaon and Kanker districts were known as the epicenter of the Maoist insurgency in Chhattisgarh.
