In Chhattisgarh's Mohla-Manpur-Ambagarh Chowki district, a significant encounter between security personnel and Naxalites resulted in the death of two senior Naxal commanders on Wednesday. The deceased Naxalites were identified as Vijay Reddy, a member of the Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee (DKSZCM), and Lokesh Salame, a divisional committee member. Together, they carried a cumulative bounty of ₹35 lakh.

The encounter occurred in the forest of Banda Pahad hill, near Retegaon village, within the Madanwada police station area. According to Superintendent of Police YP Singh, the operation was launched based on intelligence inputs regarding the presence of senior Naxal cadres in the area. A joint team of the District Reserve Guard (DRG) and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) initiated an anti-Naxal operation on Tuesday night, cordoning off the Banda Pahad area amidst rainfall when the exchange of fire broke out on Wednesday.

After the firing ceased, the bodies of Reddy and Salame were recovered from the site. Vijay Reddy, 55, was a resident of Andhra Pradesh and carried a reward of ₹25 lakh on his head, while Lokesh Salame, 40, was a resident of Rajnangaon and had a reward of ₹10 lakh for his capture. Reddy also had rewards in neighboring states like Maharashtra, and authorities are currently gathering details.

Police sources indicated that Vijay Reddy was a highly influential Maoist leader in the region bordering Gadchiroli in Maharashtra. He oversaw activities in the RKB division of the Maoist organization. Security officials mentioned that several high-ranking Maoist leaders from the Kanker, Bastar, and Manpur RKB division were having a large congregation on Bandapahad. This area, spanning Bandapahad and Sitagaon, was reportedly used by Maoists as a training ground and cache site for Company number 5, and it has been a stronghold for top-ranking Maoists due to its proximity to Kanker.

SP Y. P. Singh confirmed the recovery of the bodies and stated that a search operation is ongoing in the area. The encounter site is approximately 20 kilometers from Manpur headquarters and 45 kilometers from Mohla district headquarters.

With this latest operation, the number of Naxalites neutralized in Chhattisgarh this year has reached 229, with 208 of them in the Bastar division. This includes districts such as Bijapur, Bastar, Kanker, Konadagaon, Narayanpur, Sukma, and Dantewada.

This encounter took place near the same location where former Rajnandgaon SP Vinod Kumar Chaubey and 28 other policemen were killed in 2009. Just days prior, on August 7, a senior Maoist named Srikant Punem, carrying a reward of ₹8 lakh, was arrested in the same district along with a 9 mm pistol magazine and live ammunition.