Raipur (Chhattisgarh) [India], March 25 (HBTV): Congress leader Charan Das Mahant on Thursday expressed support for the government's action against Naxalites but said that the objective of the swift action is also being stated as the economic development of the Bastar region, questioning which big industrialists would come for whom the ‘red carpet is being laid’.

‘We appreciate the action. It is a good thing, the action is speedy... It is being said that Naxalites are being eliminated to promote economic activities in Bastar. Who is going to carry out economic activities? Which big industrialists will come for whom you are rolling out the red carpet?’ asked Mahant, who is the Leader of the Opposition in the Chhattisgarh Assembly.

He was responding to questions regarding the 22 Naxalites killed during an encounter in Chhattisgarh.

Meanwhile, former Deputy Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh and senior Congress leader TS Singh Deo attributed the violence in the state to the Naxal groups who refuse to abandon violence and arms.

‘Such incidents are coming to the fore in the encounter against the people of Naxal ideology due to not abandoning violence and continuously taking up arms,’ he told ANI.

This comes amid intensified anti-Maoist operations in the state, which have resulted in the elimination of 105 Naxalites in encounters so far this year.

‘Today, more than 60 battalions of paramilitary forces are deployed in Chhattisgarh. Paramilitary forces are available in sufficient numbers in the affected areas,’ Deo said.

Security forces recovered the bodies of 30 Naxalites along with a large cache of firearms during search operations in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur and Kanker districts, Bastar Inspector General of Police (IG) P Sundarraj said.

Speaking to ANI after two separate encounters with Naxalites in the two districts, IG Sundarraj said, ‘Operations were conducted today in various areas of the Bastar district. In the Bijapur-Dantewada border region, we have recovered the bodies of 26 Naxalites.’

‘A large number of AK-47 rifles, as well as automatic and semi-automatic weapons, have also been seized. One personnel of the Bijapur District Reserve Guard (DRG) lost his life during the encounter,’ he said.

(ANI)