Jhariakela (Jharkhand) [India], May 31 (ANI): The security forces engaged in an encounter with members of banned Naxalite organisation CPI (Maoist) at around 12 PM on May 30. The encounter occurred in the hilly/forest areas of Vangram Tirilposi under Jhariakela Police Station in Jharkhand, a press release said.

During the encounter, seeing the security forces gaining an upper hand, the Naxalites fled from the incident spot by taking advantage of the forests and mountains.

Explosives and other daily-use items were recovered and seized by the security forces during the search operation.

Recently, the Indian forces conducted a major anti-Naxal operation in Chhattisgarh's Narayanpur, eliminating 27 Naxals, which included top commander Basavaraju.

Basavaraju, the general secretary of CPI (Maoist), has been involved in Naxalite activities for the past 40-45 years and has been involved in more than 200 Naxalite activities.

Meanwhile, Naxal activity in Bastar and many regions of India has 'reduced significantly' as a result of carrying out operations against the banned and 'illegal' CPI-M outfit, a police official said on Wednesday.

Inspector General (IG) of police, Bastar, P Sundarraj told ANI, 'As a result of carrying out operations against the banned and illegal CPI-M outfit, Naxal activity in Bastar and many regions of India has reduced significantly... 4 districts of Bastar sub-division, Bijapur, Sukma, Narayanpur, and Kanker were identified as the most affected LWE districts... 6 districts of Chhattisgarh, including Bastar, Dhamtari, and Rajnandgaon, will be specially monitored by us for any kind of resurgence'.

The IG stated that most of the districts in Chhattisgarh are seeing a drop in naxal activity.

'In the country, only 18 districts are Naxal-affected and 28 districts are included in the list of districts of maximum thrust... District of maximum thrust means that naxal activity in the district has reduced to a great extent, but strict observations are still required... Most of the districts in Chhattisgarh are seeing a drop in naxal activity...,' he said. (ANI)