In the most gruesome Maoist attack in the New Year, eight jawans and a driver have been killed after the rebels blew up a security vehicle in Chhattisgarh&rsquo;s Bijapur district, police sources said on Monday. 
The nine were travelling through Kutra in the Bastar region in a Scorpio SUV when the attack took place around 2.15 pm on Monday, sources said.
The attack comes within days of Union Home Minister Amit Shah&rsquo;s announcement that the security forces were committed to ending Maoism by March 2026.
Earlier on Sunday, security forces attacked Maoists in the Abujhmad region of Chhattisgarh and killed four rebels, including two women.
Automatic weapons such as AK 47 and Self-Loading Rifles have been recovered. Top security officials said a search operation is still underway at the site of the attack.
The escalation in violence comes a day after four Maoists were killed in an encounter with security forces in Chhattisgarh&rsquo;s Bastar region on Sunday, adding that a jawan also died in action.
A head constable of the District Reserve Guard (DRG), Sannu Karam, died in the encounter, which broke out on Saturday evening in a forest in south Abujhmaad.
The encounter began when a joint team of security personnel was on an anti-Maoist operation, said an official.
After the firing stopped, the bodies of four Maoists were found. The security forces recovered automatic weapons, including an AK-47 rifle and a self-loading rifle (SLR) from the spot.
A search operation is underway in the area, the officials added. More details were awaited. This comes days after Union Home Minister Amit Shah was in Chhattisgarh's Jagdalpur, where he addressed a group of surrendered Maoists.
The Home Minister promised that Prime Minister Narendra Modi&rsquo;s government would do everything possible to rehabilitate them.
He emphasized the government&rsquo;s commitment to rehabilitating those affected by the violence and urged collective efforts to uproot Maoism from the region.
He appealed to them to help encourage other Maoists to surrender as well.
Home Minister Shah said that when Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave him the responsibility of the Home Ministry in 2019, he thought that those who were involved in armed movements should be given a chance to lay down their arms, surrender, and live peacefully.
&mdash;IANS

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January 6, 2025 | 17:16 IST