After a year of significant counterinsurgency successes, security forces in Chhattisgarh faced a grim reminder of Maoist threats when a deadly IED ambush in Bijapur claimed nine lives, including eight District Reserve Guard (DRG) jawans and one civilian driver. The attack occurred on Monday at 2:15 PM on the Kutru-Bedre road near Ambeli village as a joint operation team from Dantewada, Narayanpur, and Bijapur was returning from an anti-Naxal mission. Additional Director General of Police (ADGP), Anti-Naxal Ops, Vivekananda Sinha confirmed the incident, stating, “The IED blast near Ambeli village tragically claimed nine lives. Detailed investigations are under way to ascertain the sequence of events.”

 

The Bastar Range Police have now identified all the martyrs of the ambush. They include DRG personnel Buddhuram Korasa, Dumma Markam, Pandru Ram Poyam, and Baman Sodhi, alongside Bastar Fighters personnel Somdu Vetti, Sudarshan Vetti, Subarnath Yadav, and Harish Korram. Civilian driver Tuleshwar Rana also lost his life in the attack. Simultaneously, security forces achieved a significant victory in the dense Abujhmad forests, neutralising five armed Maoists, including two women cadres, in a three-day operation. Bastar Range Inspector General of Police (IGP) Sundarraj Pattilingam stated, “The operation resulted in the recovery of five bodies, including senior cadres of the Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee (DKSZC) PLGA Platoon 32. Weapons like AK-47 and SLR rifles were seized during the mission.” The joint operation, involving DRG units from Bastar, Kondagaon, Narayanpur, and Dantewada with STF support, engaged insurgents in multiple firefights. IGP Sundarraj elaborated, “The elimination of high-ranking cadres is a critical step in dismantling Maoist operations. Search efforts continue for additional evidence and insurgents.”

 

 

UNION Home Minister Amit Shah vowed to eliminate Naxals from the country by March 2026 and asserted that the sacrifice of those killed by the extremists in Chhattisgarh will not go in vain. “I am deeply saddened by the news of the loss of DRG soldiers in an IED blast in Bijapur. I express my deepest condolences to the families of the brave soldiers.” “It is impossible to express this grief in words, but I assure you that the sacrifice of our soldiers will not go in vain. We will end Naxalism in India by March 2026,” he said in a post on ‘X’ in Hindi. This was the biggest strike by Maoists on security forces in the State in the last two years and the first in 2025.