Raipur, Nov 11 : A Maoist was gunned down in an encounter with security forces in Chhattigsarh's Bijapur district on Sunday morning, a day ahead of polling in the region for the state Assembly polls.
The exchange of fire took place at a forest in Bedre area when a team of the Special Task Force (STF) was out on an anti-Naxal operation, a senior police official told PTI.
As per the ground report, a body of a Naxal clad in 'uniform' and a rifle were recovered from the spot, located around 450 km from here, he said.
Further details are awaited as the search operation was still underway, he added.
Security has been heightened in seven districts of Bastar division and Rajnandgaon district which go to polls in the first phase on Monday.
Around one lakh security personnel have been deployed to ensure smooth conduct of elections. Naxalites have asked voters to boycott the polls.
The 90-member Chhattisgarh Assembly will go to polls in two phases -- on November 12 and 20 -- and the results will be announced on December 11.
The first phase of polls will cover 18 constituencies of eight Naxal-affected districts that include Bastar, Kanker, Sukma, Bijapur, Dantewada, Narayanpur, Kondagaon and Rajnandgaon.
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New Delhi (PTI): Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday termed the BJP's victory in Bengal and Assam assembly polls a "theft" of the mandate, and a big step forward in the saffron party's mission to "destroy" Indian democracy.
Gandhi also came out in support of the TMC, which has been trounced by the BJP in the polls, and urged those gloating over the loss of Mamata Banerjee's party to put petty politics aside.
"Some in the Congress, and others, are gloating about TMC's loss.They need to understand this clearly - the theft of Assam and Bengal's mandate is a big step forward by the BJP in its mission to destroy Indian democracy," Gandhi said in a post on X.
"Put petty politics aside. This is not about one party or another. This is about India," he said in his post.
The BJP ousted Trinamool Congress from power in Bengal and captured power for the third time in a row in Assam in results of assembly polls declared on Monday.
