SAA event in Chhattisgarh, Bijapur area, India on Thu 16th January 2025

At least 12 Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) cadres were killed by the Security Forces (SFs) in Bijapur District in the Bastar division of Chhattisgarh on January 16, reports The Hindu. The encounter broke out around 9 A.M. [IST] when a joint team of security personnel of the District Reserve Guard (DRG) from three districts (Bijapur, Dantewada, and Sukma), five battalions of CoBRA [Commando Battalion for Resolute Action, an elite jungle warfare unit of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF)], and the 229th battalion of CRPF was out after receiving a tip-off about the presence of Maoists in the forested area. During the operation, intermittent exchange of fire took place between SFs and Maoists, leading to the killing of the 12 Maoists, whose identities are yet to be ascertained. Police said a cache of weapons and explosives were seized from the site.