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‘Jawan’: A 4-Year Journey Fuelled by Support and Dedication

As huge as the canvas of ‘Jawan’ is, it’s no surprise that it took 4 years to mount the film and also the fact that there was also the pandemic which greatly affected the entire human existence…reports Asian Lite News

Director Atlee, who continues his dream run at the box-office with his recent release ‘Jawan’, has shared what his first meeting with Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan was like.

SRK, who has breathed new life into Bollywood with his second consecutive big hit in the form of ‘Jawan’ after ‘, plays dual roles in the Atlee directorial. Both the characters have a staggering mass appeal, the older version of SRK – Vikram Rathore, a bit more, and that’s exactly what SRK wanted to do in the film – to connect with the mass audience.

Atlee told IANS that as he met SRK, the Bollywood superstar told him that he wants to do an ‘Atlee film’, a phrase which left even the director himself confused, thinking what is his signature that SRK wants to tap into.

The director told : “SRK sir told me when we first met that ‘I want to do an ‘Atlee film’. I asked him, ‘Sir, what is an ‘Atlee film?’ He said, ‘Whatever you do, I want to be a part of that, don’t change the tonality of your storytelling or the way you present your stories. I want to be a part of a film which has your signature of a Mass director’.”

When SRK told him that the film will be completely his and will bear his signature, it made the job very easy for the director as he didn’t have to worry about the market dynamics and the stardom associated with it in Hindi cinema. And, Atlee can’t be more thankful, “I am blessed to have such an amazing team right from SRK sir, Nayanthara ma’am, Vijay Sethupathi, Deepika ma’am to everyone, they pushed me to my limits and got the best out of me.”

As huge as the canvas of ‘Jawan’ is, it’s no surprise that it took 4 years to mount the film and also the fact that there was also the pandemic which greatly affected the entire human existence.

How did he go about it with solid consistency? Atlee has the answer and it’s very simple yet critical – the support system.

The director shared with IANS: “I had a great support from my family, my wife Priya is my backbone. And the other person was of course Mr. Khan, he gave me the strength to fight all the challenges that we as a team encountered in the last 4 years during the making of this film.”

Before signing off, the director also hinted at a special OTT cut of his recent blockbuster release once it drops on the streaming medium.

“I am working on something to deliver a little extra for the OTT audience. It may happen or may not. But, I’m working on adding two or three minutes of something to what the audience is currently watching in the theatres. This will come in as a little surprise from me for the OTT audience,” he concluded.

‘Jawan’ is currently playing in theatres.

‘Jawan’ Charms Elderly Women at Guwahati Old Age Home

The magic of superstar Shah Rukh Khan-starrer ‘Jawan’ has spread all across the world, with people of all ages and gender going crazy for the actor.

Reportedly, SRK fans from Guwahati, Assam had organised a special show of ‘Jawan’ for elderly women from an old age home.

In a video shared on X (formerly Twitter) by Shah Rukh Khan Universe Fan Club account, old women were seen smiling and happily posing for the camera, after they watched the show of the action entertainer.

The post was captioned: “Women of all ages love SRK Just look at these smiling ladies from an Old Age Home in #Guwahati watching Jawan.”

On Sunday, SRK replied to the post, and wrote: “Thank u and big hug to each of them…. Glad I can bring a smile to their faces through my movies!!!! Guwahati, please convey my love and immense gratitude to them!!!”

In another post on X, SRK thanked the fans of Pune, Maharashtra, who watched the weekend show of ‘Jawan’ at the iconic Victory Theatre. He wrote: “Thank u Pune!!! Wishing u all health and happiness… hope you’ve had a great weekend with Jawan!!!”

‘Jawan’ stars Nayanthara, Vijay Sethupathi, Deepika Padukone, Priyamani and Sanya Malhotra. It was theatrically released on September 7.

Directed by Atlee, ‘Jawan’ features SRK in a dual role: Captain Vikram Rathore, an ex-commando; and Azad, the jailer of a woman’s prison.

The vigilante actioner ‘Jawan’ has crossed the box office collections of the year’s other big hits, Sunny Deol and Ameesha Patel’s ‘Gadar 2’, in just nine days.

Having made a gross collection (including the 18 per cent GST) of Rs 21.90 crore and Rs 20.20 crore respectively on the eighth and ninth days, ‘Jawan’ has raked in Rs 696 crore worldwide.

SRK next has ‘Dunki’ in the pipeline.

ALSO READ-Jawan’ Dominates with 5,000 Screens

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Jawan’ Dominates with 5,000 Screens

It is only expected to solidify its position at the box-office in coming days given that the film is running across almost 5,000 screens in India. On Sunday, a few theatres in Mumbai ran as high as 25 shows a day for ‘Jawan’…reports Asian Lite News

Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan and south superstar Nayanthara’s latest release ‘Jawan’ has unleashed a box-office Tsunami. The film, a vigilante action, has collected Rs 286.56  crore net in India in the first 4 days of its theatrical run.

The film, which also stars Vijay Sethupathi as the antagonist, released on September 7 and opened to a massive Rs 75 crore net in India, worldwide it grossed over Rs 150 crore on Day 1, as per film trade website Sacnilk.

The following day, on Friday, the film witnessed a 29.03 per cent drop in its collections as it earned Rs. 53.23 crore net in India (all languages).

But, with the weekend the film swung back in action as it raked in Rs 77.83 crore net and Rs 80.5 crore net on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.

The weekend gave a huge boost to the film’s collections with additional collections coming in from the national capital due to the G20 shutdown as people flocked to theatres in the view of closure of shopping and food establishments.

The film, which marks director Atlee pan-India debut, collected Rs 384.69 crore worldwide in three days making it the third Bollywood film of 2023 to breach the Rs 300 crore mark after the Sunny Deol-starrer ‘Gadar 2’ and SRK’s earlier release from this year ‘Pathaan’.

It is only expected to solidify its position at the box-office in coming days given that the film is running across almost 5,000 screens in India. On Sunday, a few theatres in Mumbai ran as high as 25 shows a day for ‘Jawan’.

However, the major part of collections of the film are coming from north Indian states and the Hindi speaking audience. The Tamil audience has criticised the film because for them, it offers no novelty given that it’s a mixture of 40 odd Tamil films including Atlee’s own ‘Bigil’ and ‘Mersal’.

Some of the sequences in the film are exact copy paste, it even makes ostensible reference to Hollywood classics like ‘John Wick’ and also the Netflix series ‘Money Heist’ in certain places.

With ‘Gadar 2’ almost reaching the end of its theatrical run, ‘Jawan’ is expected to have a solo control over theatres across India and set the cash registers ringing further.

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Jawan’ Shatters Opening Day Record, Surpasses ‘Pathaan’

The year’s other big blockbuster, ‘Gadar 2’, starring Sunny Deol and Ameesha Patel, netted Rs 40.1 crore on its opening day…reports Asian Lite News

Atlee’s ‘Jawan’ starring Shah Rukh Khan, Nayanthara and Vijay Sethupati has beaten the record of this year’s previous mega SRK-starrer, ‘Pathaan’, to notch up the highest-ever domestic opening day collection for a Hindi film.

Based on preliminary reports, which are bound to be revised as the day progresses, the trade website Sacnilk reports that the net earnings of ‘Jawan’ (that is, total ticket minus 18 per cent GST) added up to Rs 65 crore, a substantial Rs 10 crore more than ‘Pathaan’.

The year’s other big blockbuster, ‘Gadar 2’, starring Sunny Deol and Ameesha Patel, netted Rs 40.1 crore on its opening day.

‘Jawan’ is also reported to have netted Rs 5 crore each from the Tamil and Telugu markets, making its pickings on the first day total up to Rs 75 crore.

According to Sacnilk, ‘Jawan’ drew an average 58.67 per cent occupancy across cinemas, with the evening and night shows showing a rapid pickup. The highest average occupancy, 81 per cent, was reported from Chennai, the home base of director Atlee as well as superstars Nayanthara and Vijay Sethupati. Hyderabad and Kolkata were not far behind; Delhi-NCR also reported a 60 per cent-plus average occupancy.

ALSO READ-The Moment Shah Rukh Khan Decided to Join ‘Jawan’

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The Moment Shah Rukh Khan Decided to Join ‘Jawan’

Responding to the first question, regarding whether he and director Atlee wanted to work together for a longtime, SRK jokingly quipped: “Everybody wants to work with me for a long long time. I am joking, I’m just being pompous, again I am joking.”…reports Asian Lite News

Actors Shah Rukh Khan and Vijay Sethupathi did a Q&A session, where the Badshah of Bollywood  went on to describe ‘Jawan’ as the story of a common man, doing uncommon things.SRK called this session, a place to answer questions that have both been asked, as well as yet to be asked ahead of the release of ‘Jawan’.The reason for doing seven questions only was given by SRK at the start of the Q&A video on YouTube, where he said “Saat sawaal kyon? Kyonki hafte mein saat din hote hain, rainbow mein saat colours aur ‘Jawan’ mein mere saat look. And of course, ‘Jawan’ release hogi, September 7, 2023 ko (Why seven questions? Because a week has seven days, a rainbow has seven colours and in ‘Jawan’ I have seven faces. And of course, the release of date of ‘Jawan’ is also September 7, 2023).”

Answering the question, he proceeds to harbour his ‘Jawan’ character on screen and says in the same voice, “Ready.”

Responding to the first question, regarding whether he and director Atlee wanted to work together for a longtime, SRK jokingly quipped: “Everybody wants to work with me for a long long time. I am joking, I’m just being pompous, again I am joking.”The actor then seriously said: “I met Atlee on the set of ‘Bigil’, I was in Chennai to support Chennai Super Kings. I met him there and he was showing me his film just out of love, and his wife Priya liked me a lot. So, one thing led to another, then Covid happened, and I was just sitting at home and he came to see me in Mumbai, and he said ‘I have a film’.”

“I found it very interesting because the first thing he told me was, it was you sir, with five girls. And that’s my film, because both me and Priya think that you look the nicest, when you have a bunch of ladies with you in the film,” he added.“So I asked him, ‘Lots of action? He said ‘Yeah’. Lots of high-speed shots, he said ‘Yeah’, I asked lots of dancing, good dialogues and he’s like ‘Yeah’. I’ll send five girls, and that was it, that’s how ‘Jawan’ started.”Vijay Sethupathi, answering when he first met SRK and Atlee said: “We had already met in Melbourne, Australia and I told Atlee ‘I would like to be a part of your film.’ Then I also asked ‘I’d like to be the bad guy in your film’, and Atlee said ‘We were also thinking about your past one year, so we already had you in mind. Because of that, we are surprised you contacted us’.”“Then I met him again in Mumbai, he narrated to me the script, I really liked it and I was onboard.”The Tamil star went on to give a very interesting take on his role, saying “Whenever I play the villain, it is not me who is the bad guy, but the hero. My character is on his own path, and the hero who comes to disturb me, for my character he is the villain.”SRK was asked about whether his character is a hero, villain or vil-hero (a kind of anti-hero who is still more villain than hero).To this the actor jokingly said “Pehle to aap logon ne bahut confuse kar diya hai, trailer ko preview bolte ho, hero ko villain, aur ab ye naya ‘vil-hero’? Kya mein achcha hoon, buraa hoon, punya hoon, paap hoon, yeh khudse poochna, kyonki mein aap hoon (You people firstly have already confused me a lot, you call a trailer a preview, a hero a villain and now this new vil-hero? Am I good, am I bad, a blessing or a curse, ask this of yourself because I am you).”SRK said: “This is the story of a common man doing uncommon things, for the common good of everybody.”Describing his experience of working with SRK, Vijay said: “Mostly my on-screen experience with SRK has been good. Whenever I sit with him, I like it because I like the way he gives interviews and his spontaneity. So I like him better on a personal level, like how his thought process, his brain is working.”“I keep asking questions, to know more about him, as to who he is as a person.”One of the funnier questions which even amused SRK was, whether he was an action hero or just a guy with great insurance policy. To this he said “My life insurance policy is now over, because I have received so many injuries that no one really insures me anymore, honest to God.”SRK said: “To give you all the real reason why I do it, one day my eldest son and my daughter told me that you have to do films which are the coolest, for the youngest. And then I thought, that the only thing he finds really cool are all these animes, animations, action films. So first I decided to be a superhero but then I realised I don’t look good in spandex.”“So funny enough, without spandex instead I got into bandages, and that is why this action. So honestly, I do action films because my kids get very impressed that I am doing cool things, have six pack abs, stuff like that. There is no other reason I should do action films.”Vijay, describing his preparation for the role of such an intense antagonist said: “I am good at choosing scripts, and I know how to do it. The rest I leave to others because I don’t want to bring anything else in my head, because I think that’ll spoil the artiste and the mind which I don’t want to do.”“So I just stay away from all that, and whatever work I get, I stick with it, and that is enough for me.”Answering a question regarding what exactly was the moment, which made SRK sign up to do ‘Jawan’, he said: “I think the moment was when I went to see the rushes, at Atlee’s office in Mumbai, and there is this shot where I am introduced as this bald hero (proceeds to smack his hands like in the trailer).”“I remember Atlee putting a lot of powder in my hand, and I was smiling and was like ‘What is all this powder for? And in one take I even remember I sneezed on it and then smacked my hands, and I think that’s the moment I did ‘Jawan’.”

SRK then added, “There is a lot more stuff that I experienced, so please go watch ‘Jawan’ with your friends, family, girlfriends, boyfriends in theatres on September 7, 2023.”’Jawan’ is a Red Chillies Entertainment presentation directed by Atlee, produced by Gauri Khan, and co-produced by Gaurav Verma. The film will be released worldwide in theatres on September 7, 2023, in Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu.

ALSO READ-Zinda Banda: a visual spectacle with SRK in Jawan

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Zinda Banda: a visual spectacle with SRK in Jawan

The first song promises to be a visual spectacle with SRK, and thousands of girls dancing to the catchy beats designed by Anirudh Ravichander and choreographed by Shobi…reports Asian Lite News

The launch of the first song ‘Zinda Banda’ from the much-anticipated film ‘Jawan’ starring superstar Shah Rukh Khan, is around the corner, and speculations of how grand the song would be, have flooded the internet.

The first song promises to be a visual spectacle with SRK, and thousands of girls dancing to the catchy beats designed by Anirudh Ravichander and choreographed by Shobi.

Anirudh Ravichander made his music debut in 2012, with the Tamil film ‘3’ and composed the superhit song ‘Why This Kolaveri Di’. During the course of his decade-long career, he has composed and produced original scores and songs for more than 90 films in various languages, predominantly in Tamil, in addition to Hindi and Telugu.

He is known for his musical contributions to some of the biggest hits in recent times, like ‘Vaathi Coming’, ‘Arabic Kuthu’, the record-breaking album of ‘Vikram’, and the most recent song ‘Kaavaalaa’ from the upcoming movie ‘Jailer’, starring Rajinikanth.

As per the sources, “The track promises to be a massive celebration number, shot on a grand scale in Chennai, over five days, with over 1000 dancers from all across Indian cities like Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Madurai, Mumbai and more.”

“Produced at an impressive budget of over Rs 15 crores, ‘Zinda Banda’ will showcase the spectacular visual of SRK dancing like never before with thousands of girls. With Anirudh composing and helming the vocals as well and the moves choreographed by Shobi, this track is all set to get the nation grooving,” the source added.

Till now, the audience has enjoyed the high-energy and captivating – The King Khan rap, performed by the Grammy-nominated popular artiste Raja Kumari, all of which were a part of the recently launched ‘Jawan’ prevue, and have been highly appreciated.

The film is backed by an exceptional cast, including some of the biggest names in the entertainment industry from all parts of India along with Shah Rukh Khan, starting from Nayanthara, and Vijay Sethupathi in lead roles, and Deepika Padukone in a special appearance, along with Sanya Malhotra, Priyamani, Girija Oak, Sanjeeta Bhattacharya, Lehar Khan, Aaliyah Qureshi, Ridhi Dogra, Sunil Grover and Mukesh Chhabra will be seen in pivotal roles.
 
‘Jawan’ is directed by Atlee. The film is a Red Chillies Entertainment presentation, produced by Gauri Khan, and co-produced by Gaurav Verma, and will release in theatres on September 7, in Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu languages.

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Shah Rukh Khan goes bald in Jawan

30 seconds into the prevue, things pace up as the viewers get to see explosions, fights, flames, gun shots, before SRK finally makes the appearance albeit with half face covered with the mask…reports Asian Lite News

Bollywood megastar Shah Rukh Khan, who earlier set the box-office on fire with his last release ‘Pathaan’, is back to repeat the feat with his upcoming film ‘Jawan’ and the ‘prevue’ for the same cements the fact. The asset titled ‘prevue’, which was released on Monday, features the megastar, known for his hair texture, sporting a bald look, and doing heavy duty action.

The word ‘prevue’ means an advertisement of short scenes from a motion picture that will appear in the near future. The prevue, two minutes and 12 seconds in length, begins with a bird’s eye view of a remote area which is attacked by unidentified bandits and people run for cover, it then quickly moves to a metro city where people are running around in commotion wearing the signature mask that SRK wore in the first look of the film as SRK’s voice-over of, “Main kaun hoon kaun nahi, pata nahi”. As visuals of army men fill up the screen with a tight close up of, wait for it, SRK in a pair of black aviators.

30 seconds into the prevue, things pace up as the viewers get to see explosions, fights, flames, gun shots, before SRK finally makes the appearance albeit with half face covered with the mask.

The prevue further invokes hysteria as superstars from south India like Nayanthara and Vijay Sethupathi, and Bollywood stars Sanya Malhotra, and Deepika Padukone in a special appearance grace the screen.

The surprise is though towards the end with SRK sporting a bald look and shaking his leg to ‘Bekarar Kar Ke Hume Yun Na Jaaiyie’.

It capitalises on SRK’s stardom as it makes references to many of his works, most famously, “Naam toh suna hi hoga” from ‘Dil To Pagal Hai’ and the train sequence from ‘Ra.One’. By the looks of it and of course a brilliant and a pacy score by Anirudh Ravichander promise another blockbuster which would further put Bollywood back on track.

The prevue is filled with moments, some of which are pure fan service, that make an impact on the minds of the viewer and have the potential to lure the people into theatre and the illustrious starcast ensures that the same would happen. 

The film has been directed by Atlee and is all set to hit the theatres on September 7, 2023.

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Video of RPF jawan helping elderly man at Bihar rly station goes viral

The old man told the police that his name is Ramnaresh Yadav and he is a resident of Lodipur Panchayat of Sheikhpura. Police however could not trace his son or daughter. Police is still trying to trace his family members…reports Asian Lite News.

A video of Bihar’s Jamalpur railway station is going viral on the social media in which a Railway Protection Force (RPF) jawan is seen helping a helpless elderly person who has been there for quite a while.

RPF jawan Anurag Kumar, in the video, is seen bathing this man with soap with his own hands and after cleaning him, he is also seen putting a vest on him.

Jamalpur RPF inspector Sujit Yadav said that this 70-year-old man has been here on the platform for over one and a half months. Nobody noticed him in the beginning as people took him for a beggar, but later constable Anurag Kumar spotted him.

The old man told the police that his name is Ramnaresh Yadav and he is a resident of Lodipur Panchayat of Sheikhpura. Police however could not trace his son or daughter. Police is still trying to trace his family members.

Anurag Kumar said that it is due to humanity that he is helping the elderly person.

The old man’s beard had grown so much that even barbers didn’t want to go near him. After persuasion by Anurag Kumar, a barber agreed to shave off his beard. New clothes were also provided to him.

Anurag says that now other jawans have also come forward to help this old man. Passengers and people have appreciated this noble move of RPF jawan Anurag.

The video of Anurag helping the elderly person is being shared widely on the social media.

ALSO READ-23 jawans killed after walking into Maoist trap

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Maoists release abducted CoBRA commando

Manhas, a constable of the 210th CoBRA was safely handed over to the state police and to Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF)…reports Asian Lite News

CRPF commando Rakeshwar Singh Manhas, who was held captive by the Maoists in Chhattisgarh for over 100 hours after the April 3 gun battle, was released on Thursday evening, the CRPF said.

Manhas, a constable of the 210th CoBRA (Commando Battalion for Resolute Action), an elite wing of the CRPF, was safely handed over to the state police and to Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).

“Our CoBRA commando Rakeshwar Singh Manhas has reached our camp safely. He is being sent for medical examination,” CRPF’s IG, Operations, C.G. Arora told IANS.

Manhas is physically fine, he added.

In Jammu, family members of Manhas celebrated the news of his release.

Neighbours and family members reached his residence, raised slogans and celebrated the news of his release by distributing sweets. His wife said she had not slept since he was made captive by the Maoists.

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“I want to thank the Prime Minister. I wasn’t able to sleep for the last six days,” said Meenu.

“I am very happy that he has been released… we just got the news,” said his brother Sahil.

The trooper had gone missing during the fierce gun battle with over 300 PLGAs ultras in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur district on April 3 in which 22 security personnel were killed and 31 were injured. Over 1,000 security personnel of the CRPF and Chhattisgarh’s District Reserve Guard (DRG) and Special Task Force (STF) took part in the operation. The gun battle took place on Saturday noon near Tekulgudem village under Tarrem police station.

The Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee of the outlawed CPI-Maoist on Tuesday announced Manhas was “safe” in their custody and sought an interlocutor appointed to for his release.

As the Ministry of Home Affairs, in close coordination with the Chhattisgar government, was busy in scrutinising the names of likely interlocutors, the ultras released Manhas.

Also read:23 jawans killed after walking into Maoist trap

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23 jawans killed after walking into Maoist trap

The lengthy gunfight between Maoists militants and security personnel broke out on Saturday at a remote hilly site in Bijapur district, close to Sukma district border in sprawling Bastar division…reports Sujeet Kumar

Over 1,000 police personnel drawn from CRPF’s elite CoBRA unit, and the state police’s District Reserve Guard (DRG) and Special Task Force (STF) walked into a deadly trap of Maoists in deep jungle in a rebel-dominated patch in Chhattisgarh’s restive Bastar, purely on an unverified intelligence input that top ultra leader Madvi Hidma was holed up at a hilly site along with his colleagues.

But the input was basically a well-planned trap of the Maoist guerrillas as they gunned down 23 security personnel and walked away with their weapons too. The casualty figure could further rise as at least 31 security personnel sustained multiple injuries and were airlifted to Raipur for better medical attention.

The lengthy gunfight between Maoists militants and security personnel broke out on Saturday at a remote hilly site in Bijapur district, close to Sukma district border in sprawling Bastar division where Maoists are attempting to run a de facto government in deep forests since late 1980s.

“Guerrillas armed with heavy weapons including rocket launchers were waiting for security personnel contingent… once a larger team of the search operation approached a hill, the militants who were positioned on top of the hill started spraying bullets in a flash from three sides,” a local DRG policeman who was part of the search team told IANS.

The attack site is located roughly 500 km south of state capital Raipur.

India_Chhattisgarh_location_map (wikipedia)
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“The security personnel were stunned by Maoists’ heavy gunfire… actually, it was an ambush designed in U-shape but the troopers too retaliated hard.”

Reports say that Maoists brought 3-4 tractors on Saturday night to the attack site to ferry away dead bodies of their comrades.

The local police officials are now claiming that intelligence inputs should have been verified from multiple credible sources before rushing a larger team to catch Hidma, one of the most wanted terror faces in the mineral-rich Bastar.

The brutal killings of troopers have created a widespread anger in the state and people in tribal stronghold Bastar have called for immediate revenge.

Chhattisgarh’s Bastar division, which is made up of seven districts including Bijapur and Sukma, has been the epicentre of major Maoist attacks in past three decades. Rebels had killed 76 CRPF men in a single attack in April 2010 in Bastar which is described the deadliest attack by Maoists on security forces in India.

In May 2013, Maoists carried out an audacious attack on a Congress party convoy at Jheeram ghati in Bastar in which entire top-ranked leaders of the party in the state were wiped out including then state chief Nandkumar Patel, popular tribal leader Mahendra Karma and former Union Minister V.C. Shukla.

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