Top naxals, Mangdu and Hitesh among 14 Maoists killed in Chhattisgarh encounter

Fourteen Maoists were killed in separate encounters in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar range on Saturday. Security forces neutralised top CPI (Maoist) leaders in Sukma and Bijapur districts, recovering weapons during ongoing anti-Naxal operations in South Bastar.

Kothagudem: As many as 14 Maoists were killed in separate encounters in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar range on Saturday.

One of the most wanted naxal, the CPI (Maoist) Konta area divisional committee member Sachin Mangdu and area committee member Hitesh were among the Maoists killed in the Sukma encounter. The anti-naxal operation was being monitored by Sukma SP Kiran Chavan and Bijapur SP Jitendra Yadav.

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Two Maoists were killed in Bijapur district and 12 Maoists in Sukma district. The security forces have recovered bodies along with a large quantity of weapons like AK 47, INSAS and SLR Rifles from the encounter site.

According to sources, all the Naxalite commanders involved in the killing of Konta ASP Akash Rao Giripunje were killed. The ASP was killed on June 9, 2025 after he came under the IED blast on Konta-Gollapalli road in Sukma district when he was on patrolling duty along with his staff.

The police said that the search operation has been launched by the security forces on the basis of information about the presence of armed Maoists in the southern areas of Bijapur and Sukma districts. DRG teams were dispatched to the South Bastar region as part of the operation.

An intermittent firing between the DRG personnel and the Maoists started at 5am in Bijapur district while the firing started at around 8 am in Sukma district’s Kistaram area and the operation is still going on.