Two Maoists gunned down in encounter with security forces in Chhattisgarh

Two Maoists were killed in an encounter with security personnel in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur district in the early hours of Saturday (January 3, 2026), police said.

The gun battle broke out around 5 a.m. in a forest in the southern region of the district when a team from the District Reserve Guard, a unit of the Chhattisgarh police, was out on an anti-Maoist operation based on information about the presence of Maoist cadres in the area, an official said.

Bodies of two Maoists were recovered from the scene, he said.

The intermittent exchange of fire was still underway, and further details were awaited, the official said.

As many as 285 Maoists were gunned down in separate encounters with security forces in Chhattisgarh last year.

Of them, 257 were eliminated in the Bastar division, comprising seven districts, including Bijapur, while 27 others were gunned down in Gariaband district, which falls in the Raipur division.