How intel on presence of senior Maoists led to 11-hour encounter, elimination of 12 Reds in Chhattisgarh

RAIPUR: At least a dozen Maoists were gunned down in a fierce, 11-hour encounter in a forest in Bijapur district’s Gangaloor region on Friday. With this, the number of Maoists neutralized this year has risen to 103, including 29 in a single operation in Kanker.
All the security personnel in Friday's operation are safe, said officers, adding that automatic weapons, a grenade launcher and explosives have been recovered from the battle zone.
The bodies are being taken to a police camp for identification. An officer said that the toll may rise as the exact number of deaths will be known when separate teams of security personnel converge at a place.
According to police, the operation was launched on the basis of specific inputs about the presence of commander-ranked Maoists and over 150 cadres in the region. Over 1,000 security personnel, drawn from CoBRA, Special Task Force and District Reserve Guards units in multiple districts, set out from different camps of Bijapur, Dantewada and Sukma districts at 6am on Friday, said officers.
The forces converged in a patch of dense forest near Pidiya village, around 40km from Bijapur and 470km south of Raipur. Police say Maoists fired the first shots, and the forces retaliated. For 11 hours, gunfights erupted at different locations in the forest as forces pursued the Maoists. The combat continued even after darkness fell.
Dantewada SP Gaurav Rai confirmed on Friday night that bodies of 12 Maoists had been found at the encounter site. Police said there were inputs about the presence of Western Bastar division special zonal committee member Pap Rao, Darbha division SZC Chaiti, PLGA company number 2 commander Vella, Gangaloor area committee secretary of Platoon 12 Dinesh Modiyam and more than 150 cadres.
Chhattisgarh chief minister Vishnu Deo Sai lauded the forces for the operation. "Since BJP has formed govt in Chhattisgarh, action against Maoists has intensified... Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji and Union home minister Amit Shah ji also wish that Naxalism should end. We are benefiting from the double-engine govt," he added.
Security forces have been on the offensive ever since the BJP govt took over last Dec. On April 16, 29 Maoists were gunned down in an encounter in Kanker district. A fortnight later, on May 1, 10 more Maoists were killed in Abujhmarh region of Narayanpur district in a 13-hour gunfight.
CM Vishnu Deo Sai congratulates security forces
C M Vishnu Deo Sai said: “The encounter has ended in the forests of Pidiya and 12 bodies have been recovered. I congratulate the security forces engaged in the operation. Since BJP has formed the govt in Chhattisgarh, action against Maoists has intensified. Our PM Modi ji and Union home minister Amit Shah ji also wish that Naxalism should end. We are benefiting from the double-engine govt,” Sai said.
Security forces have been on the offensive ever since the BJP govt took over last Dec. On April 16, security forces had gunned down 29 Maoists in an encounter in Kanker. A fortnight later, on May 1, 10 more Maoists were neutralised in Abujhmarh region of Narayanpur in a 13-hour gunfight