RAIPUR: A daylong gunfight on the Dantewada-Bijapur border in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar area left at the least 12 Maoists and three District Reserve Guard (DRG) personnel useless Wednesday, marking one of many 12 months’s heaviest losses for the outlawed group as safety forces pressed deeper into the insurgency’s crumbling stronghold,One other DRG constable was wounded however was mentioned to be out of hazard. The conflict erupted round 9am within the forests of Gangaloor close to Dantewada and intermittent firing continued by the day throughout West Bastar division throughout a joint operation involving DRG groups from Dantewada and Bijapur, STF, and CoBRA items of CRPF.268 Maoists died in safety actions throughout Chhattisgarh With Wednesday’s killings, the variety of Maoists shot useless in safety actions throughout Chhattisgarh this 12 months rose to 268 — 239 in Bastar alone, 27 in Gariyaband below Raipur division, and two in Mohla-Manpur-Ambagarh Chowki in Du-rg. Union dwelling minister Amit Shah has set a March 2026 de-adline for eliminating the M-aoist insurgency nationwide.Bastar vary IG P Sundarraj mentioned 12 our bodies have been retrieved from the positioning. “Weapons like SLR rifles, .303 rifles and different arms and ammunition have been discovered,” he mentioned.DRG misplaced head constable Monu Vadadi and constables Dukaru Gonde and Ramesh Sori, whereas their wounded colleague Somdev Yadav has been admitted to hospital.Safety forces continued combing the dense jungles alongside the Dantewada-Bijapur axis, the place Maoist formations have lengthy tried to regroup. “For the reason that operation remains to be in progress, detailed data can’t be shared. Additional particulars, together with the identification and rank of the slain Maoists, might be confirmed after search and clearance,” Sundarraj mentioned.Bijapur SP Jitendra Yadav described the operation as a “decisive and aggressive motion” and mentioned the realm had been absolutely cordoned off.Reinforcements have been deployed to comb for extra Maoist insurgents. The shootout comes lower than three weeks after safety forces killed prime Maoist commander Madvi Hidma on Nov 18 within the forests of Maredumilli on the Chhattisgarh-Andhra Prade-sh border. Hidma — one of the needed Maoist guerrillas accused of executing greater than 26 main assaults over twenty years — was killed alongside together with his spouse Rajje alias Rajakka and 4 others.