Indian security forces kill at least 29 Maoists in gun battle

Kanker district, where the clash occurred, will vote in the second of seven phases in the elections on April 26 while neighbouring Bastar, a Maoist stronghold, votes in the first phase on Friday.

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Police officials said they received a tip-off about the presence of Maoists in the area on Tuesday and launched a raid that led to the gun battle, which also injured three members of the security forces.

“After the encounter, during the search of the area, bodies of 29 Maoists were recovered,” police said in a statement, adding that several weapons and ammunition were also seized from the location.

Maoists say they are fighting to give poor Indian farmers and landless labourers more control over their land and a greater claim to its minerals, currently exploited by major mining companies.

India has deployed tens of thousands of security personnel to battle Maoist rebels across the insurgent-dominated “Red Corridor”, which stretches across central, southern and eastern states but has shrunk in size.

New Delhi has pumped millions of dollars into infrastructure development into remote areas, and claims to have confined the insurgency to 45 districts in 2023, down from 96 in 2010.

Indian Home Minister Amit Shah, while campaigning in Chhattisgarh on Sunday, vowed to eliminate insurgency from the state within three years if Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is voted back into power.