The district reserve guard (DRG) personnel launched a search operation following information on the presence of Maoist cadres in the area. An intermittent exchange of fire ensued between the Maoists and the DRG forces after the police spotted the naxals.
Twelve Naxalites and three DRG personnel were killed in a major encounter in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur district, with two others injured. Security forces continue search operations in the West Bastar division, bringing the Naxal death toll in the state to 275 this year
