SAA event in Chhattisgarh, Bijapur District area, India on Sat 17th January 2026

Security Forces (SFs) gunned down four Communist Party of India–Maoist (CPI-Maoist) cadres, including senior cadre Dilip Vedja, in an encounter in the forested hills of Bijapur District in the Bastar division of Chhattisgarh on January 17, reports Telangana Today. Based on inputs about the presence of Vedja, a Divisional Committee Member (DVCM), personnel belonging to the Special Task Force (STF) and District Reserve Guard (DRG), both State Police units, along with CoBRA (Commando Battalion for Resolute Action), an elite unit of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), launched an operation in the area. A gunfight broke out with the Maoists, and during the subsequent search, the bodies of two Maoists were recovered from the encounter site by noon. Later, in the evening, the bodies of two more Maoist cadres, including a woman, were recovered. Weapons, including an AK-47 rifle and a .303 rifle, were also recovered from the spot. Apart from Dilip Vedja, who was active in the National Park Area Committee of the Maoists and had been involved in several attacks, preliminary information suggests that the three other killed cadres belonged to the same area committee, though their identities have yet to be ascertained.|