15 Maoists killed in three encounters in Chhattisgarh, says CRPF

At least 15 Maoist rebels were killed in five days by security forces in Chhattisgarh, the CRPF said on Tuesday but added not a single body has been recovered so far.

One CRPF jawan was also killed in the operations while two others were injured, a spokesperson of the central force said in Delhi.

Some of the slain rebels could have been involved in an ambush that killed 25 CRPF jawans in south Chhattisgarh's Sukma on April 24, one of the biggest losses faced by the central force engaged in anti-insurgency operations in the state, it said.

The number of Maoist casualties was based on information provided by



villagers on the borders of Sukma and Bijapur districts besides the ground troops, the official added.

The operations were carried out between May 12 and 16 by state police and CRPF's Commando Batallion for Resolute Action (CoBRA), a special unit raised to tackle Maoist insurgency, identified as India's biggest internal security threat.

"As per teams (which took part in the operations) more than a dozen Maoists were killed in (three) encounters and it could be more as we don't know the exact number," said DM Awasthi, the state police's special director general in-charge of anti-Maoist operations told Hindustan Times.