Sixteen Maoists were killed and two jawans injured in an encounter with security forces in the forests of Upampalli Kerlapal area along the Sukma-Dantewada border.
Gunfire broke out in the early hours in a forest under Kerlapal police station, where a joint team of security forces was carrying out an anti-Naxalite operation, an official said.
The operation, launched on Friday night based on intelligence about Maoist presence in the Kerlapal area, involved personnel from the District Reserve Guard (DRG) and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).
“Sixteen Naxalites’ bodies have been recovered from the site of the encounter so far, with the operation still ongoing,” the official confirmed.
Two security personnel sustained minor injuries during the operation, the official added.
Earlier in February, thirty-one Maoists and two security personnel were killed in a gunfight in the jungles of Indravati National Park in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur district.
This had marked the largest ambush on Left Wing Extremists this year, bringing the 2025 death toll to 81.
