Bijapur: Outlawed Maoists suffered a major reverse when 20 of their armed activists were shot dead in a major encounter between the Naxals and the security forces in the thick forests of Bijapur district in Chhattisgarh. Two policemen were also killed in the shootout on Sunday. Significantly, this reversal comes barely after 25 days of Naxals killing 25 CRPF personnel in an ambush in Sukma district.

Though the shootout occured on Sunday, the details were revealed only on Tuesday afternoon. The CRPF officials said that it was a joint operation of the police and the Cobra (Commando Battalion for Resolute Action) Group of the CRPF. As many as 350 security personnel joined the operations.

Significantly, the CRPF officials said that they found the Naxals donning uniforms similar to the ones used by the Cobra Group. This was the first time that security forces saw Naxals wearing their uniform. The security forces suspect that this ploy could be a ruse to deceive them in forest encounters.

The security force sources also revealed that some security personnel were injured too. The injured have since been shifted to the base hospitals for treatment.

This encounter is being seen as part of the battle of attrition being played out in the Dandakaranya.

In another face-off in Chhattisgarh, a Naxallite carrying a reward of Rs 16 lakh on his head, was killed in an encounter with the police in Bastar district. The killed Naxal was identified as Vilas alias Kailash alias Aaytu, the secretary of Barsoor area committee of Maoists.