The number of Maoists gunned down in Chhattisgarh in Wednesday’s encounter, in which three District Reserve Guard (DRG) jawans were also killed, has gone up to 18, with six more bodies being recovered, officials said on Thursday.

The encounter, which took place in Bijapur district, left four other jawans injured, and they had been airlifted to Raipur. The four are now said to be out of danger, officials said.

A joint team of DRG from Bijapur and Dantewada, as well as the Special Task Force (STF) and the Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA), had launched an operation based on intelligence inputs on the presence of Maoists, resulting in the encounter.

The encounter broke out at 9 am in the forest area of Potenar and Kachilwar.

Out of the 18 Maoists who were killed, 16 have been

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