Jagdalpur (Chhattisgarh): As the entire world is struggling with the scare of coronavirus pandemic, the nationwide lockdown to contain the spread of COVID-19 has forced Naxalites at a greater extend to surrender before the law. The Naxals of Bastar in Chhattisgarh have suffered from tough economic hardship as they have become deficient of manpower and goods.
During lockdown, 17 encounters broke out between Naxals and police In a joint operation with security forces, state police have achieved success in keeping the Naxalites on the back foot in anti-Naxal operations.
Inspector-General of Police Sundarraj P informed that between March 23 to June 23, the Bastar police has been running operations against Naxalites which has led to the arrest of many Naxalites and the forces have also succeeded in killing around 10 wanted Naxals in encounters.
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"Many Naxalites, impressed by the resettlement scheme offered by the state government have returned to the mainstream and police also managed to seize huge cache of arms and ammunition," IG Sundarraj P added.
According to the records, during the tenure of lockdown period 17 encounters broke out between Naxals and police in Bastar division and two security personnel have also lost their lives during the operations.
So far, 89 Naxalites have been arrested, 26 Naxals have surrendered and five soldiers suffered injuries. Police have recovered 20 Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) planted by the Naxals and foiled their plans however five IED exploded without causing any harm. Police also seized 20 weapons during these operations.
Meanwhile, deaths of six civilians were also reported during these operations in the last three months.
Read:|Security forces fight dual battle against coronavirus and Naxals in Chhattisgarh
