A senior Maoist leader carrying Rs 40 lakh bounty was killed in an encounter with security forces in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district on Thursday, official sources said.
This comes days after CPI (Maoist) general secretary Nambala Keshav Rao alias Basavaraju was killed by security forces in the Bastar region, dealing a major blow to the armed movement.
Details Of The Encounter
PTI cited sources to report that Maoists' Central Committee member Gautam alias Sudhakar was gunned down in the latest gunfight in Bijapur.
However, Sudhakar's death is yet to be officially announced.
A senior police official posted in Bastar Range told PTI that the exchange of fire broke out in the forest of Indravati national park area when a joint team of security personnel was out on an anti-Naxalite operation based on inputs about the presence of senior cadres.
Personnel belonging to the Special Task Force, District Reserve Guard, both units of the Chhattisgarh police, and CoBRA (Commando Battalion for Resolute Action - an elite unit of CRPF) were involved in the operation, he said.
The offensive was launched based on inputs about the presence of Maoist leader Sudhakar, Telangana State Committee member Bandi Prakash, Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee (DKSZC) member Pappa Rao, and a few other armed cadres, the official said.
"Preliminary reports suggest a strong possibility of major success for security forces in the operation," he said.
Search operations were still underway in the area and more details will be shared later, he added.
Abujhmad Encounter
At least 27 Maoists were eliminated on Wednesday in an encounter with the security forces at the Narayanpur-Bijapur border in Chhattisgarh, allegedly including key Maoist leader Nambala Keshav Rao alias Basavaraju, as reported by PTI.
The encounter was carried out in the Abujhmad forests of Chhattisgarh.
Basavaraju became the leader of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) in 2018. Basavaraju, who was around 70, carried a bounty of over Rs 1 crore on his head.
He was one of the most wanted men for the NIA as he was an explosives expert who prepared IEDs that were employed to ambush the security forces. He was also wanted for his key role in leading the attacks at Chintalnar in which 76 CRPF personnel were killed along with the 2013 ambush at Jhiram Ghati where a Congress convoy comprising state party leaders were stabbed and gunned down.
