Raipur (Chhattisgarh) [India], March 23 (HBTV): Chhattisgarh Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sharma on Thursday condoled with the killing of a District Reserve Guard (DRG) jawan and informed that at least 18 bodies out of the total 22 Naxalites killed in an encounter have been recovered. 

'Search operations had been going on in the area of Gangaloor, in between Bijapur and Dantewada. So far, the bodies of 18 Naxalites have been recovered, and one of our DRG jawans, Raju, has also been martyred. The entire government stands with the family, may God give them strength,' the Chhattisgarh Deputy CM said.

'I congratulate the jawans of Bastar and the whole team of Bijapur. This has been possible due to the strength of the soldiers, and along with the Bijapur operation, there is a search operation in Kanker too,' he added.

A DRG jawan, identified as Raju Oyyami, was martyred earlier today during the encounter, while 22 Naxalites were killed in Bijapur and Kanker districts of Chhattisgarh.

The security forces neutralised 18 Maoists during an encounter in the forest area at the Bijapur-Dantewada border, Inspector General (IG) Bastar P. Sundarraj said.

According to the police, the encounter has been underway since 7 a.m. today.

In another encounter at the Kanker-Narayanpur border area, security forces neutralised four Naxalites near Koroskodo village in the Chhotebethiya police station area, IG Bastar P. Sundarraj said.

The security forces have also recovered automatic weapons, while intermittent firing continues, police added.

Last week, as many as 17 Naxalites surrendered in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur district, a police officer said.

Bijapur Superintendent of Police (SP) Jitendra Kumar Yadav told reporters, 'Today, 17 Naxalites have surrendered in Bijapur district. All the surrendered Naxalites were active in different capacities in the Gangaloor area committee of the outlawed Maoist organisation.'

In February, a total of 18 Naxalites were arrested, and explosives were recovered from them in an operation carried out by security forces at three different locations in Bijapur district.

(ANI)