Narayanpur, June 15

Eight Naxalites and a jawan of the Special Task Force (STF) were killed in an encounter in Chhattisgarh’s Narayanpur district on Saturday, the police said.

Two other STF personnel sustained injuries in the incident, they said. A huge cache of weapons and other materials belonging to Naxalites were recovered from the encounter site, they said.

Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai said his government was fully committed to eliminating Naxalites, and it would not sit quiet till it achieved the goal. The gunfight broke out around 7 am in the forest of Abhujmad, where a joint team of security personnel from four districts — Narayanpur, Kanker, Dantewada and Kondagaon — was out on an anti-Naxalite operation, Inspector General of Police, Bastar Range Sundarraj P said.

The operation was launched on June 12 based on information about the presence of cadres belonging to Maad division and PLGA company no. 1 of Maoists in forests of Kutul, Farsebeda and Kodtameta villages under the Kohkameta police station area of the district, he said. Personnel from the police’s District Reserve Guard and STF, along with the 53rd battalion of the ITBP were involved in the operation, he said.