NEW DELHI: At least five people including a policeman and four Maoist separatists were killed as Indian security forces battled with the rebels on Sunday.
More than 10,000 people have died in the decades-long insurgency waged by Naxalite rebels, who say they are fighting for the rights of marginalised indigenous people in India’s resource-rich central regions.
Clashes broke out late Saturday in Abujhmarh district of Chhattisgarh state, a key battleground in the insurgency.
“Four bodies of Maoists, who were in their battle uniform, have been recovered after an encounter with police forces,” police inspector general P Sunderraj told AFP, adding one police constable had also been killed.
“Action is still on,” he said.
Four bodies of Maoists, who were in their battle uniform, have been recovered after an encounter with police forces.” – police inspector general P Sunderraj
Government forces stepped up efforts last year to crush the long-running armed conflict, with some 287 rebels killed in 2024, according to government figures.
Naxalite-Maoist Insurgency
The Naxalites, named after the district where their armed campaign began in 1967, were inspired by the Chinese revolutionary leader Mao Zedong.
The movement gained in strength and numbers until the early 2000s when New Delhi deployed tens of thousands of security personnel against the rebels in a stretch of territory known as the “Red Corridor”.
