Five suspected Maoists were killed in a gunfight with security forces in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar region on Saturday, the Hindustan Times reported.

Two soldiers were also injured in a joint operation that began after information was received about the presence of suspected Maoists in north Abujhmad, which is a large forested area bordering the Narayanpur and Kanker districts, The Indian Express reported.

“Since 8 am, a fierce encounter has been underway between the joint forces of the District Reserve Guard, Special Task Force, Border Security Force, and Maoists,” the Bastar Police stated, according to the Hindustan Times.

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“So far, the bodies of five Maoists have been recovered in the ongoing operation,” it said, adding that two soldiers were also injured in the gunfight. “Officials have confirmed that both injured personnel are in stable condition and are receiving immediate and advanced medical care.”

Weapons were also seized from the site of the gunfight, the police added.

This brings the total number of suspected Maoists killed in the state’s Bastar division this year to 197, The Indian Express reported. The figure is also the highest in a year since the state was carved out of Madhya Pradesh in 2000.

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The Bastar division comprises Bastar, Kanker, Kondagaon, Dantewada, Narayanpur, Bijapur and Sukma districts. The area is a stronghold of Maoist militants.

Malini Subramaniam has reported for Scroll that while many of those killed in Bastar this year have been declared by the police to be reward-carrying Maoists, several families dispute the claim. They said that the persons killed were civilians.

On October 4, security forces killed 31 suspected Maoists in a gunfight inside a forest along the border of the Narayanpur and Dantewada districts in the region. This reportedly marked the deadliest such operation in Chhattisgarh’s 24-year history.

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