Raipur: In a fresh crackdown on Naxals, at least 22 members of the banned CPI (Maoists) were killed in two separate encounters in Chhattisgarh, as per the official statement on Thursday. Under the separate operations in Bijapur and Kanker districts, security forces launched an anti-Naxalite search. During the encounters 18 Naxals were shot dead in Bijapur, while four were gunned down in Kanker by a joint team of the Border Security Force (BSF) and the District Reserve Guard (DRG) of the state police. A police jawan from the DRG unit was also killed during the encounter in Bijapur. Security forces have recovered the bodies of 18 Naxals. A big cache of firearms and explosives has been seized from the Bijapur encounter site. The search operation in the region is underway.
