RAIPUR, July 6 -- A Maoist was killed in an encounter between Maoists and security forces in the dense forested terrain of the Indravati National Park area in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district, police said on Saturday. Police said the operation was launched based on intelligence about the presence of top Maoist cadres on Friday and has since witnessed intermittent gunfire. Inspector general (IG) of police, Bastar range, Sundarraj P, said that security forces acting on credible inputs initiated a coordinated search operation involving multiple units and during the course of the operation, the body of a male Maoist was recovered from the encounter site along with weapons. "We are yet to ascertain his identity," the IG said. Given the active nature of the operation, officials have refrained from releasing further details to ensure the safety of personnel engaged in the mission. Security operations in the Bastar division have intensified in recent months, with forces targeting senior Maoist leadership believed to be operating in the region. The IG remarked that security forces are fully committed to sustaining anti-Maoist operations even during the monsoon season and emphasised that the CPI (Maoist), which has been declared unlawful,now has no option but to surrender and give up violence. "Over the past 18 months, a total of 415 Maoist cadres have been killed in various encounters across the Bastar range. This number includes top CPI (Maoist) leaders such as general secretary Basavaraju alias Ganganna and central committee member Gautam alias Sudhakar, marking a significant setback for the insurgent group," the IG said....