After over 40 hours of meticulous planning, security forces trekked for almost 12 hours negotiating the inhospitable terrain to reach the Maoist den inside the dense Abhujmad forest in Chhattisgarh.

They used drones for surveillance while moving ahead to avoid being ambushed in the jungles before launching the biggest anti-Maoist operation in the state.

On Friday, security forces comprising over 1,500 personnel from the Special Task Force (STF) and District Reserve Guard (DRG) gunned down at least 31 suspected Maoists inside Abhujmad forest between Narayanpur and Dantewada districts of Chhattisgarh’s Bastar region.

Sources said the operation, which was planned four days ago following a tip-off from intelligence agencies that suggested the presence of around 50-60 Maoists, including some senior leaders, took the Maoists by surprise. The gunfight broke out between security forces and the Maoists around 1pm on Friday and ended at night inside a forest between Nendur and Thulthuli villages.

“Security forces surrounded the Maoists in a radius of 10km. As they closed in, the Naxalites opened fire, resulting in a fierce gun battle which continued for hours,” said a security official attached to the Union home ministry.

“After 40 hours of meticulous planning, security forces trekked for 12 hours to reach the location where senior Naxalite leaders had gathered for a meeting and training purpose,” the official said.

The encounter is seen as a major success in the ongoing counter-offensive launched by security forces against Maoists in the Bastar region since the Kanker operation in Chhattisgarh on April 16 in which 29 Naxalites, including some higher-ranking cadres, were killed.

Sources said among those killed on Friday included Kamlesh, one of the most-wanted Maoist commanders, and Niti alias Urmila, a spokesperson for the group. Both were key figures in the Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee (DKSZC), with Kamlesh being wanted in five states and Urmila playing a crucial role in the Maoist propaganda machinery.

The bodies of 28 Maoists were recovered from the encounter site on Friday evening while three more bodies were found on Saturday. All of them were in “uniform”.

“The slain Maoists belonged to PLGA (People’s Liberation Guerilla Army) Company No. 6, Platoon 16 and East Bastar division of Maoists,” said another security official.

According to him, a DRG jawan suffered injuries in a blast from an under-barrel grenade launcher (UBGL) fired by Naxalites during the gunfight. Security forces recovered a cache of weapons, including an AK-47 rifle, one SLR (self-loading rifle), one INSAS rifle, one LMG rifle and one .303 rifle from the encounter spot.

The dense Abhujmad forest, spread over 3,900sq km in south Chhattisgarh, is part of the Bastar Lok Sabha constituency and was earlier inaccessible to security forces. Intelligence reports suggest the ultras hold complete control of the forested area and have several camps where they provide arms training to recruits. In the absence of administration and basic infrastructure in the area, it had become an uphill task for security forces to even make inroads inside the jungle as the rebels had put up a large number of landmines and explosives at all entry points.

“The successful operation inside the Maoist den was a big achievement for security forces,” said a Union home ministry official.

So far this year 188 Maoists have been gunned down by security forces in separate gun battles in the Bastar region comprising seven districts. The seven districts — Bastar, Bijapur, Narayanpur, Kanker, Sukma, Dantewada and Kondagaon — are the worst affected by left-wing extremism.

Bastar is presently the axis of the security offensive against the insurgents.

Sources said unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are being used for reconnaissance, surveillance and taking real-time imagery of the liberated zone in Chhattisgarh.

Shah to review security

Union home minister Amit Shah will review the security situation of the Maoist-hit states on Monday with the chief ministers of eight states hit by the menace.

The chief ministers of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Telangana, Odisha, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh will attend the meeting to be held in Delhi, sources in the home ministry said.

The deputy national security adviser and senior officers from the Centre, states and central armed police forces will also participate in the deliberations.