Encounter in the Forest

Subhashis Mittra



The nondescript Korgotalu hill on the Chhattisgarh-Telangana border (Bijapur and Mulugu districts of the two states respectively) has suddenly shot into limelight. Certainly not because the hilly tracts are home to wild animals, including bears, insects and bees, apart from water bodies and natural caves. But, for the fact that the dense jungle makes the place an ideal haven for Naxals, making Bijapur one of the six most Naxal violence-hit districts in the country.


Undaunted by the difficult terrain, security forces led by the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and Chhattisgarh Police units gave a ‘deadly blow’ to the armed cadres of the Naxalites, claiming to have killed 31 Maoists recently.


As collateral damage, a total of 18 troops were injured, some of them seriously, though there was no fatality on the security side. CRPF assistant commandant Sagar Borade lost his leg in an improvised explosive device (IED) blast in course of the operation. Five security personnel—three CoBRA commandos of the CRPF, a CRPF jawan and a District Reserve Guard (DRG) of the Chhattisgarh Police—were airlifted from Raipur to Delhi and admitted in AIIMS for treatment of injuries. They had to undergo amputation.


In a post on X, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the killing of 31 Naxalites along the Chhattisgarh-Telangana border underscores that the government’s campaign to root out Left-Wing Extremism (LWE) is moving in the right direction. Modi said his government is committed to establishing peace in the Naxal-affected region and connecting it to the mainstream of development.


Union home minister Amit Shah met the injured in AIIMS, New Delhi. Lauding the big achievement, he described it as a historic breakthrough by the security forces in their resolve to make the country Naxal-free with this killing. “I once again assure the countrymen that India is sure to be Naxal-free by 31 March 2026,” Shah wrote in Hindi on X.


He said the brave soldiers carried out an operation for 21 continuous days on the Chhattisgarh-Telangana border and killed 31 Naxalites. The whole country is proud of the bravery and courage of these soldiers, he added.


Chhattisgarh chief minister Vishnu Deo Sai celebrated the success with the jawans. “Braving 44 degree C heat, you have shown exemplary courage during the operation. Hats off to your indomitable spirit,” he said at a remote village in Bijapur district, right next to Telangana border, where he shared a meal with the troops to boost their morale.


The forces said the 21-day-long anti-Naxal operation in the Karegutta Hills (KGH) on Chhattisgarh-Telangana border, named ‘Operation Black Forest’, was the ‘biggest coordinated’ operation against the Maoists till date. The ‘decisive operation’ involved 24,000 troops.


The Karegutta hills, which literally translates into the ‘black forest’ hills, are said to be 700 metres high and thickly-wooded, with officials claiming that the terrain makes it difficult to scale. As a result, around a dozen drones were deployed in the operation. The CRPF and the Chhattisgarh Police have described the operation as a major success as they demolished the ‘invincibility’ of the Maoists.


The operation was launched on the basis of specific intelligence inputs about the presence of top Maoist leaders, including those from the Telangana state committee and the heavily armed People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) Battalion No. 1—considered to be the strongest military wing of the Maoists.


CRPF Director General Gyanendra Pratap Singh and Chhattisgarh top cop Arun Dev Gautam said 21 encounters took place during the operation that began on April 21 at the Korgotalu Hills and ended on May 11 leaving 31 Maoists, including 16 women, dead and leading to the seizure of 450 IEDs, two tonnes of explosives, and a

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