Twenty-nine alleged Maoists were killed and three security personnel injured in a gunfight in Chhattisgarh’s Kanker district on Tuesday, The Indian Express reported.

The gunfight took place in an area under the jurisdiction of Chhotebethiya Police Station.

“Based on specific intelligence, a joint operation by teams of BSF [Border Security Force and DRG [district reserve guards] was launched on April 16,” the newspaper quoted an unidentified spokesperson of the Border Security Force as saying. “While the operation was under progress, the BSF operations party came under fire from CPI [Communist Party of India] Maoist cadres, and BSF troops effectively retaliated against them.”

The area was searched and 29 bodies of Maoists along with arms and ammunition were recovered from the spot, Inspector General Sundarraj told The Indian Express.

This development comes days ahead of Lok Sabha polls in the state. Elections in the Kanker Lok Sabha constituency will take place on April 26. The adjoining Bastar seat will go to the polls on Friday.

Since December, 68 alleged Maoists have been killed in separate gunfights with security forces in the Bastar region, the Hindustan Times reported citing police records. The violence has also claimed 17 civilians and six security personnel since January.

Communist Party of India (Maoist) alleges aerial bombing

On Sunday, the Communist Party of India (Maoist) alleged that the Adivasis in the nearby Sukma district had been aerially bombed on Friday. They alleged that Adivasis residing in the area were being injured in such attacks after a police camp was set up in Sukma’s Puvarti village. The attacks allegedly destroyed the surrounding forests killed animals.

The party accused the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Union government of waging a war against the state’s Adivasis and handing over their land to corporations for the exploitation of natural resources.

Several reports of aerial bombings against Adivasis have been reported from the region. A member of the European Parliament had last year posed questions in the House about alleged aerial bombings in Bastar.

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