Hundreds of police and paramilitary soldiers launched an operation in the forests of the Indravati area of Chhattisgarh state based on intelligence that large number of rebels had gathered there, said state police Inspector General Pattilingam Sundarraj.
Sundarraj said as the troops conducted a search operation fighting erupted in the forest, killing at least 31 insurgents and two police officials. Two other police were injured. He said search operations were continuing in the area and the troops had recovered some arms and ammunition, including automatic rifles.
There was no immediate statement from the rebels.
Sunday’s fighting is the biggest so far this year and the second major clash in less than a month in Chhattisgarh, according to police officer Jitendra Yadav.
At least 16 rebels were killed in the state’s Gariband district on Jan 23. According to Indian officials, the government had issued a bounty for 12 of them totaling about $345,000. Eight rebels were killed in a gunbattle with troops in the Bijapur district on Jan 31.
Indian soldiers have been battling the Maoist rebels across several central and northern states since 1967, when the militants, also known as Naxalites, began fighting to demand more jobs, land and wealth from natural resources for the country’s poor indigenous communities. The insurgents are inspired by Chinese revolutionary leader Mao Zedong.
Source: AP
