Narayanpur, May 21 -- In a major blow to the Maoist insurgency, security forces in Chhattisgarh killed 27 Naxals, including CPI-Maoist General Secretary Nambala Keshav Rao alias Basavaraju, during a massive joint operation in the Abujmarh forests of Narayanpur district.

The Inspector General (IG) of Bastar Range in Chhattisgarh, P Sundarraj, on Wednesday said that the joint operation that killed 27 naxals, including CPI-M General Secretary Nambala Keshav Rao, alias Basavaraju, was carried out by District Reserve Guard (DRG) teams from Narayanpur, Dantewada, Bijapur, and Kondagaon.

Sundarraj further added that the encounter took place in the Abujmarh area, a known Naxal stronghold, following intelligence inputs about the presence of seni...