Rise in killings by Naxals amid military crackdown in Bastar raises concern

At least seven Naxalites were killed in an encounter with security forces in Chhattisgarh's Narayanpur district on Thursday, a senior police official said. The gunfight broke out around 3 am in the forest of south Abujhmaad when a joint team of police and the Central Reserve Police Force was out on an anti-Naxalite operation, he said.

Personnel of District Reserve Guard (DRG) of police from Narayanpur, Dantewada, Bastar, and Kondagaon districts besides CRPF teams were involved in the operation, the official said. After the exchange of fire stopped, the bodies of seven Naxalites wearing uniforms were recovered. Search operations were still underway in the area, the official said.