A top Naxal leader who carried a reward of Rs 40 lakh on his head was killed in an encounter with security forces in the National Park area in Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh on Thursday. Acting on intelligence inputs about the presence of senior Naxal cadres in the forested area, a joint team of the District Reserve Guard (DRG) and the Special Task Force (STF) launched a coordinated operation.
During the exchange of fire which lasted for several hours, Maoist Central Committee member Sudhakar, one of the most wanted Naxal leaders, was killed. Last month, Communist Party of India (Maoist) general secretary Nambala Keshav Rao, also known as Basavaraju, was killed in an encounter with security forces in Chhattisgarh. He was among 30 Naxals eliminated in the dense Abujhmad forests, a Naxal stronghold.
One of his party’s most feared strategists, Rao was part of the Naxalite movement since the late 1970s. He carried a bounty of Rs 1.5 crore and was wanted in connection with several deadly attacks on security forces in several states.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah called the operation “a landmark achievement in the battle to eliminate Naxalism”. He said it was the "first time in three decades of Bharat's battle against Naxalism that a general secretary-ranked leader has been neutralised by our forces”.
Sixteen Naxalites had surrendered in Sukma district of Chhattisgarh on Monday. All 16 cadres, including a woman, had cited disappointment with the “hollow” Maoist ideology and the atrocities committed by Maoists on tribals.
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