A central committee member of CPI (Maoist) was killed in an encounter with security forces in the Indravati National Park area of Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur district on Wednesday, police said. A senior Chhattisgarh officer confirmed the death of Sudhakar.
The development comes a month after Nambala Keshav Rao, also known as Basavaraju, was killed in an encounter with security forces in Chhattisgarh.
The operation, carried out by a joint team of District Reserve Guard (DRG), Special Task Force (STF), and elite CoBRA units, was based on specific intelligence about the movement of senior Maoist leaders in the region, a statement issued by Bastar police claimed.
According to officials, intelligence inputs indicated the presence of multiple high-ranking Maoist cadres in the area, including Telangana State Committee member Bandi Prakash and Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee member Pappa Rao, besides Sudhakar.
“Acting swiftly, a well-coordinated was operation was launched deep inside the forested region of the Indravati National Park, which is known to be a Maoist stronghold,” the Chhattisgarh police officer claimed.
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{{/usCountry}}During the exchange of fire, security forces killed Gautam alias Sudhakar, a long-time central committee member who carried a heavy bounty and was considered one of the key ideologues and strategists of the Maoist movement in central India, the officer added.
“The combing operation in the jungle is going on,” the officer said, adding that preliminary reports suggest that other cadres may also have been injured or killed, although official confirmation on the same is awaited.
Security forces have recovered weapons, explosives, and Maoist literature from the site of the encounter.