A six-month old baby was killed and her mother sustained bullet injuries after an encounter broke out between security forces and the armed cadres of People’s Liberation Guerilla Army (PLGA), armed wing of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) in insurgency-hit Bijapur of Chhattisgarh on Janauray 01, 2024.
According to the information received, a joint team of security personnel were out on a combing operation when they came across the Maoist near Mutvandi forest region of Bijapur resulting in a fierce gunfight between the ultras and the security personnel in which an infant died in the cross fire while her mother sustained bullet injuries.
The injured lady is a resident of Mutvandi village who is reported to be in critical condition. As many as two personnel belonging to the District Reserve Guard (DRG), a speciliased counter insurgency unit of Chhattisgarh police active mainly in Maoist infested Bastar Division have also sustained injuries in the gunfight.
Two personnel of DRG have sustained injuries while an infant has died and her mother has received critical injuries in the gunfight, a police team led by additional superintendent of police Bijapur immediately rushed to help the victim family and all possible assistance is being provided to them, informed an official familiar with the development.
It’s been reported, that a few extremist including a senior member of the Bhairamgarh Area Committee of the outlawed CPI Maoist have also sustained grave injuries in the gunfight, however no confirmation pertaining to any casualties occurred on the Ultra’s side has been reported so far.
Civilian causality a regular occurrence
It is to be noted that this is not the first time that a civilian has been died in a Maoist related incident and reports pertaining to civilian causalities have been coming to the fore on a regular basis. Most of the victims of the left wing insurgency are either got shot during the cross fire or they are killed in Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) explosions triggered by the Maoist.
It is pertinent to mention here that the Maoist implant IEDs in the forest regions with a view to harm the advancing parties of the security forces, though often innocent villagers who walks inside the forest to pluck Tendu Patta leaves and other forest produce on a daily basis accidently step over on the IEDs triggering the explosions.
Offensive against Maoist
It is worth mentioning here, that the operation launched in the forest of Bijapur was part of the ongoing offensive of the security forces against the ultras after Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai following a high level security meet instructed the officials to take stringent actions against the ultras.
The meeting was called in the wake of a string of attacks carried out by the Maoist in separate regions of the State in days after the newly elected government assumed charge.
Additionally, as part of its efforts to eradicate the menace of Left Wing Extremism (LWE) across the state, the home ministry has reportedly also planning to deploy additional forces in the regions still affected by the insurgents.
The development has occurred after the Union Home minster, Amit Shah on several occasions in his recent public gathering vowed to eradicate the Maoist insurgency from Bharat in a few years’ time.
