Chennai: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday cut short his schedule on the last day of campaigning for the final phase of the Assam Assembly elections and returned to New Delhi in view of Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur Naxal attack.
The Home Minister held a top-level meeting with senior officers on the Bijapur encounter at his residence in Delhi.
Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla, IB Director Arvind Kumar and senior CRPF officers were present in the meeting.
“Our fight against Naxalites will continue with strength, perseverance and intensity and we will take it to the end,” Shah reportedly said during the meeting.
As many as 22 jawans were killed and 31 sustained injuries in the encounter with Naxals in Chhattisgarh on Saturday. Security forces have launched an operation along the Sukma-Bijapur border, where an intense face-off resulted in the deaths of 22 jawans. One soldier is still believed to be missing.
The deceased included personnel from the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), its elite unit CoBRA (Commando Battalion for Resolute Action) and the District Reserve Guard (DRG), but it was not yet confirmed how many of them were from which security force, officials said.