Union Home Minister Amit Shah attended a wreath-laying ceremony in Jagdalpur on Monday to pay homage to the security personnel who lost their lives in a gun-battle with Naxals in Chhattisgarh's Bastar region. He will also visit the site of the Naxal attack at Sukma-Bijapur border and later meet the injured jawans at hospital, news agency ANI reported.
Twenty two security personnel were killed and 31 others injured in the gunfight with Naxals between Jonaguda and Tekalguda villages along the border of Sukma and Bijapur districts on Saturday.
After arriving in Chhattisgarh's Jagdalpur town from Delhi, Shah reached the Police Lines, where the mortal remains of 14 security personnel were kept in coffins draped with the national flag, to pay his last respects. Shah, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel and other dignitaries laid the wreath on the mortal remains of the security personnel. The wreath-laying ceremony of other martyred jawans, who belonged to Bijapur district, was held in the Bijapur town where local public representatives and senior officials were present.
Shah also chaired a high-level meeting at the Police Coordination Centre on the Left Wing Extremism (LWE) situation. Chief Minister Baghel, senior officials of the state police and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) will attend the meeting.
Speaking later, Shah said that the fight against Naxals will continue and "we will win at the end". "We have successfully set up camps in interior areas in last few years, which has annoyed Naxals resulting in such type of incidents," he told reporters after a review meeting with Bhupesh Baghel and officers of security forces. "The officers said that this fight should not weaken, which shows that the morale of our jawans is intact."
"On behalf of the Prime Minister and the Central government and the country, I pay tributes to the security personnel who lost their lives in the Naxal attack. The country will always remember their sacrifice for taking the fight against Naxals to a decisive turn," he opined.
READ MORE: Morale of jawans high, anti-Naxal operation to go on: Chhattisgarh CM Baghel
Earlier on Sunday, Shah had to cut short his campaigning in Assam and returned to Delhi to review the situation. The gun battle in Bijapur claimed lives of 22 security personnel. Shah said that the fight against Maoists will continue and "we will take it to the end". "Our fight against Naxalites will continue with strength, perseverance and intensity and we will take it to the end," Shah said during a high-level meeting with senior officials of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Intelligence Bureau and Central Armed Police Forces.
The Home Minister also paid tributes to the slain soldiers in the encounter with Maoists that took place in Chhattisgarh on April 3. Shah said that "I want to assure the martyrs' families and the country that the sacrifices that the soldiers have made for the country will not go in vain".
In a major Maoist attack this year, a total of 22 security personnel were killed and 31 injured in a fierce gun battle with a platoon of over 300 People's Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district.
READ MORE: 22 bravehearts lost: When 400 Maoists led by most wanted commander 'Hidma' surrounded jawans from three sides
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